There are parliamentary bills in the Sejm, the government bill is still being worked on. The topic - a year after the scandal with the sale of alcotubes erupted - has returned on the heels of the debate on night prohibition in Warsaw.
What about changes to the Law on Upbringing in Sobriety that would restrict alcohol sales?
Published Oct. 9, 2025 08:14
On Wednesday, at the request of the Left Club, a debate was held on the government's information on the matter. - According to the Central Statistical Office and NIZP-PZH, alcohol contributes to 56,000 deaths a year in Poland. The World Health Organization indicated in 2024 that alcohol is responsible for more than 7 percent of all deaths in our country. Mass consumption of alcohol takes a toll not only on public health, but also on road safety, among other things," said Joanna Wicha on behalf of her club. - We have a de-partisanized Ministry of Health, and it seems all the more legitimate to me now to ask which side of this dispute the Ministry is on. Are the minister and her colleagues brave enough to restrict 24-hour alcohol sales? Ban the sale of this killer at gas stations? Eliminate alcohol advertising from public spaces, including the Internet, and shut down the alco-tube market? - Wicha asked government representatives, noting that the arguments put forward by opponents of restrictions on alcohol sales are sufficiently supported by the alcohol lobby.
The Left's questions were not unfounded, especially in the context of announcements coming from the Prime Minister's Office that a project on, among other things, banning the sale of alcohol at gas stations was not on the government's list of priorities. The Health Ministry's response, however, shows that work is continuing all the time. Deputy Minister Katarzyna Kęcka assured that the ministry is working on the problem, using the WHO's recommendations (strengthening restrictions on access to alcohol, enforcing consequences against drivers who reach for alcohol, raising the price of alcohol and limiting its advertising and promotion).
- The Health Ministry has presented a draft amendment to the Law on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism. The draft went to public consultation in March 2025, Minister Kęcka recalled. The amendment would introduce, among other things: harsher penalties for illegal alcohol promotion and advertising, and restrictions on the appearance of alcohol product packaging, so that it does not encourage young people to drink it or associate it with relaxation or success in life.
- The draft received a lot of comments, many of an expanding nature. (...) They mainly concerned the complete ban on alcoholic beverages, the inclusion of sanctioned advertising or promotion of non-alcoholic beer, the ban on the sale of alcohol at gas stations and medical facilities, and the regulation of remote alcohol sales," Katarzyna Kęcka enumerated, while admitting that the draft touches on a complex issue. Many of the comments made in the consultations have been taken into account and, among other things, that is why it will go to public consultation again, possibly as early as next week.
