Alcohol reforms will make no substantial difference to the heavy drinking culture

The Government's keenly awaited alcohol reforms will make no substantial difference to New Zealand's heavy drinking culture, nor to the scale of harm being suffered by individuals and families from dangerous drinking, says Alcohol Action spokespeople.

The measures announced by Justice Minister Simon Power today, while being a small step in the right direction, will be “fighting a bush fire with a couple of garden hoses for the next 20 years" said spokesperson Professor Jennie Connor, Head of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago today.

“A small first step is not what we need. We need a package of the most effective measures in order to make a substantial difference” said Professor Connor, “What has been announced are not sufficient to reset the “normal” standard for drinking in New Zealand to something we can live with”.

"The government has seriously misread public concern about heavy drinking and needs to rethink its policies," she said.

Professor Doug Sellman, Director of the National Addiction Centre said “the government has announced a comprehensive suite of half-hearted changes, policy tweaking and deferred initiatives, while failing to act on four evidence-based policies that would really make a difference”.

These four key measures are:
• Lower the adult level for drinking and driving to 0.05 immediately, rather than “do more research”;
• Put major restrictions on alcohol marketing, advertising and sponsorship to prevent the ongoing manipulation of ordinary New Zealanders, rather than just tinker with promotions;
• Remove alcohol from supermarkets, where normalisation of alcohol to our children and families occurs on a daily basis;
• Put an end to extremely low alcohol prices now, rather than avoid any decision by “collecting more data”.

“It’s almost as if the Government didn’t read the Law Commission’s final report” Professor Sellman said. “There was a total absence of any reference to three fundamental conclusions of the Law Commission:
1. Alcohol is a drug, with properties that make it of high risk to public health
2. There are about 700,000 heavy drinkers in New Zealand
3. The “unbridled commercialisation of alcohol” is a major driver of New Zealand’s drinking culture.”

“Without these fundamental issues acknowledged, it is no wonder the Government’s response is so weak” he said. “Their response is a recipe for the heavy drinking culture to continue largely unabated for the next 20 years. No wonder there were broad smiles on the faces of alcohol industry and big business representatives at the briefing today.”

"However the issue is not going to go away," Professor Sellman said. "We have been amazed at the outpouring of public feeling about heavy drinking all over the country and this is just the beginning. Like tobacco issues in the past, it is only a matter of time before a Government has the courage to properly address New Zealand's alcohol crisis and stand up to vested big business interests for the sake of the well-being of ordinary New Zealanders, instead of just leaving it to local communities to battle it out, if they have the time, energy and resources to do so”.

“It is excruciating to see this National-led Government on the brink of wasting such an historic opportunity”.

ENDS

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