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Source: ONE News -
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The Government is releasing a 500 page report from the Law Commission next Tuesday which makes a number of recommendations for changes to exisiting alcohol laws and policy.
Details of the report, which suggests a radical shake-up of the way we purchase and consume alcohol, have been leaked on Kiwiblog.co.nz , a right-wing political website.
The report was commissioned by the last Labour Government, and the primary author is former Labour Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer - who is also the Law Commission President.
The Law Commission is an independent body established by statute to undertake the systematic review of New Zealand laws. The Commission undertakes legal analysis and provides recommendations to the Government of the day.
In response to growing public concern about the harms associated with the misuse of alcohol, the Law Commission was asked to review the law governing the sale and supply of alcohol. This request was subsequently reaffirmed by John Key's National Government and the Commission's reporting time frames brought were forward by Justice Minister Rt Hon Simon Power.
The project was to be the most fundamental review of the law on the sale and supply of liquor since the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 was passed.
There have been profound changes in the intervening 20 years: beer and wine are now sold in supermarkets; the age of purchase has been reduced from 20 to 18 years; Sunday trading has been extended.
The Law Commission's consultation document, Alcohol In Our Lives: An Issues Paper On The Reform Of New Zealand's Liquor Laws was published in July 2009 and made for sobering reading.
Since deregulation under the 1989 Act, the number of liquor licences has more than doubled from 6,295 in 1990 to 14,183 in June 2009 and in the last 10 years, our per capita consumption of pure alcohol has increased by nine%.
In 2008, alcohol importers and manufacturers made 9.5 litres of pure alcohol available for every New Zealander aged 15 plus - the highest volume since 1994.
Overall, since 1989, alcohol has become more affordable relative to our incomes and over 80% of New Zealand adults (2.98 million people) drink at least occasionally. Men are more likely to be drinkers than women and to drink greater volumes when they drink.
All of which means that New Zealanders now spend an estimated $85 million a week on alcoholic beverages. This equates to $4 billion - $5 billion a year.
Some 44% of that alcohol is consumed in "heavier drinking occasions" - defined as one in which a woman consumes six or more drinks and a man eight or more drinks.
A quarter of New Zealand drinkers aged 12 to 65 typically drink large
amounts when they drink, as do over half (54%) of 18 to 24 year-old drinkers. Just over a third of male drinkers aged 18 to 24 report drinking enough to get drunk at least once a week.
The drinking patterns of young people (14 to 19) show a trend towards heavier per occasion consumption. Women's consumption has been increasing over time across all age groups but particularly among young women.
Health and crime
Most New Zealanders associate alcohol consumption with many important benefits including alcohol's role as a social lubricant and relaxant. However, alcohol is also a toxic substance with the potential to cause both immediate and long-term harms.
The risk of immediate harms relate to the amount of alcohol consumed on a single drinking occasion. These include alcohol poisoning and intentional and unintentional injury.
The risk of longer-term harms relate to the cumulative effects of the volume of
alcohol consumed over a lifetime. These include a variety of alcohol-related diseases and disorders.
In this country, one in five drinkers over 12 and nearly half of 15 to 24 year-old drinkers usually drink quantities that put them at significant risk of injury in the six hours after drinking. New evidence shows that young people face a significantly higher risk of both short term and later alcohol-related health and social problems than older drinkers, even at the same level of alcohol consumption.
International and New Zealand research shows that alcohol is also strongly
implicated in aggressive and violent behaviour. Of all the recorded criminal offending in 2007/08, at least 31% was committed by those who had consumed alcohol beforehand.
In that year, alcohol was a factor for offenders in over 20,000 violence offences. Those most likely to have consumed alcohol before offending are males and those under 25.
Evidence suggests that many patrons entering clubs and bars late at night have consumed alcohol purchased from an off-licence beforehand. This phenomenon, called "pre-loading", combined with the extended trading hours of inner city bars and clubs, is believed to be linked to high levels of intoxication in public places and anti-social behaviour.
About 1000 New Zealanders are estimated to die each year from alcohol-related causes. Thousands more are injured in alcohol-related road trauma and hospitalised for conditions ranging from gross intoxication and alcohol poisoning to facial fractures and hand injuries from accidents and assaults.
The harmful consumption of alcohol has also been identified as a risk factor in suicide and self-harm.
Kiwiblog's leaked copy of the report suggests that the Law Commission is set to propose a 50% increase in the excise tax on alcohol, banning the sale of liquor at off licences after 10pm, preventing pubs and nightclubs allowing people to enter after 2am, a nationwide closing time for all alcohol outlets and an increase in the purchase age for alcohol from 18 to 20 to tackle New Zealand's growing drink problem.
It remains to be seen if the government will accept the proposals or if they go far enough if they do.
You can read the Law Commission's review of gegulatory framework for the sale and supply of liquor here
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