Why is alcohol an issue in New Zealand?

Alcohol remains biggest issue over summer period  The biggest job for Police in the Western Bay of Plenty this summer will be trying to reduce the impact of alcohol- related harm across the community, says Western Bay of Plenty Police Area Commander, Inspector Mike Clement.  "Unfortunately, alcohol is still a factor in more than a third of recorded offences and a third of all Police calls for service. It's prevalent across all our statistics, but is a major factor in disorder, violence, family violence and road crashes causing injury and death.  "Sadly, it becomes an even bigger issue over the summer period, and particularly during the festive season, for the community and all its service agencies, including councils, Police, hospitals, iwi organisations, Government agencies and other emergency services.  "This is why reducing alcohol-related harm is a key priority for Police and our community partners.

 "Alcohol related activities should be able to take place in our community with minimal risk of harm to drinkers, minors and the wider community, but unfortunately that is simply not the case in today's environment.  "Most people are able to enjoy events or a few drinks without any problem, but a growing number of people don't seem to be able to and that is where the problem lies.  "It is our job to ensure the safety of our community and we will actively police alcohol-related issues to achieve that. We don't make any apologies for taking a hard line in this area if it means we can reduce the impact."  Inspector Clement says across the Bay of Plenty Police District, Police take a "low tolerance approach" to alcohol- related disorder or breach of liquor ban.

 "This means that we will take some level of positive action."  Inspector Clement says this low tolerance approach, combined with local efforts such as liquor bans, are in place for a reason – to manage issues early in the day or evening, to prevent major problems, crime and disorder later.  He says Police will continue to work alongside its partners to develop initiatives and activities to tackle alcohol-related harm, including education, liquor licensing and planning for special events.  "We have moved beyond the concept of Police "mopping up the mess" at the end of the night.  "Alcohol is a community problem and it will be solved through partnerships and with the community."

 Last year the police budget was $1.5 BILLION!  1/3 of all calls are alcohol related which equates to about $500 Million worth of taxpayers money being spent on this problem.  Other than the cost of policing this issue, what other affects does alcohol have on society?

Affects on society  Cost of hospital treatment  Cost of rehabilitation and counselling  Friends and families torn apart  Increase in risky behaviours Death toll on our roads Fighting  …

Adolescent use in NZ  Many teenagers experiment with alcohol in New Zealand  Access to alcohol for teenagers under 18 is common and many consume alcohol with no adult supervision  Binge drinking has become a major issue  Teenagers see other parts of society using alcohol and try to copy

New Zealand Statistics  In 2004, million litres of pure alcohol was available for consumption; 9.19 litres for every person 15 years and over.  Internationally, that puts New Zealand 24th in alcohol consumption per head out of 50 countries.  88 percent of men and 83 percent of women are happy to claim that they are drinkers.  Nearly half the population thinks that it is okay to get drunk.  25 percent of current teenage drinkers admit to having drunk at least five glasses of alcohol at least once in the last two weeks.

New Zealand Statistics  125,000 teenagers under the age of 17 fall into the category of binge drinkers. 75,000 will drink regularly - once every two weeks - and binge.  50,000 drink at least once a week and binge, usually with the intention of getting drunk.  635,000 adults drink at least once a week and binge. 785,000 adults drink regularly, often every day, and with equal regularity binge.  350,000 of us were binge drinking on our last drinking occasion.  In New Zealand we estimate that alcohol harm costs somewhere between $1 billion and $4 billion a year.  It costs the public health sector $655 million.

New Zealand Statistics  It costs in social welfare $200 million and in other government spending $330 million.  In lost productivity, it costs about $1.17 billion a year.  One in four women can't remember what they did while drinking.  3.9% of all deaths in New Zealand in 2000 were alcohol-related.(approximately 1040 deaths)

Activity  Research the laws surrounding alcohol in New Zealand  Write down the laws in your books and post your answers in the discussion tab on the websitewww.handpe.wikispaces.com  We will be looking into these laws and policies in more detail later this term