Amsterdam  - The Dutch government should be less tolerant of drug and alcohol use among teenagers, an expert advisory body to the government recommended in a report it presented on Thursday.

The committee said the legal age at which teenagers are permitted to buy alcohol should be raised from 16 to 18, the same legal age at which Dutch nationals are allowed to purchase soft drugs such as marijuana.

The experts came to their conclusion also because, they said, scientific research has sufficiently demonstrated alcohol use damages brain development of people younger than 18.

The sale and consumption of soft drugs like marihuana is legal in the Netherlands. Soft drugs are sold in so-called coffee-shops that also sell alcohol.

The committee also recommended a drug authority should be instituted to curb drug-related crime and monitor the quality of legal drugs.

The government appointed the special advisory committee in January following media reports about the alcohol consumption of Dutch teenagers being among the highest in the world. (dpa)