House of Representatives passed a bill raising ages for alcohol, cannabis and gambling. The Attorney General challenged critics to take it to court
Trinidad and Tobago’s House of Representatives passed the Miscellaneous Provisions (Alcohol, Cannabis, Dangerous Drugs, Gambling and Tobacco) Bill, 2026, by a vote of 23 to 10 Wednesday night, raising the legal age for alcohol and tobacco from 18 to 21 and for cannabis and gambling to 25. All Government members voted in favor, while the full Opposition bench voted against.
Attorney General John Jeremie, who piloted the bill, said the legislation was intended to change the country’s direction after years of rising crime, noting that Trinidad and Tobago recorded one of the world’s highest homicide rates in 2024. He rejected criticism that the bill was merely “business as usual,” calling it “radical legislation” and telling Opposition members who threatened a legal challenge to proceed. “Challenge it if you want,” he said. Jeremie argued that reaching the legal age of adulthood at 18 does not automatically confer an identical entitlement to every regulated substance or activity, citing Singapore’s phased increase of its tobacco purchase age to 21 and the U.S. federal tobacco age increase in 2019 as precedent.
During the committee stage, the Government introduced amendments making photo identification mandatory for purchasing alcohol or tobacco, possessing cannabis, or entering gambling establishments. Jeremie said the requirement would help police determine whether someone found with a regulated substance was legally permitted to have it. A separate exemption clause will allow people aged 18 to 20 to handle, sell or possess alcohol and tobacco products during lawful employment. Port of Spain South MP Keith Scotland unsuccessfully proposed lowering the cannabis age from 25 to 21, which Jeremie rejected, saying it was “not our policy.”
Government MPs defended the bill as necessary, if difficult, medicine. Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath said the country could no longer rely on traditional youth programs that had consumed “millions and billions of dollars” without success, while Defence Minister and Toco/Sangre Grande MP Wayne Sturge described the age increases as “bitter medicine” needed to protect the young people most at risk, including in his own constituency. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration Friday.