Crate Day gets thumbs down

A radio station's National Crate Day promotion has been slammed for promoting a culture of binge drinking and fuelling alcohol-related violence.

Western Bay police say the The Rock radio promotion - which encourages listeners to share a crate of beer - was linked to a number of assaults and out of control parties in the Western Bay during the weekend.

The fourth annual National Crate Day was held on Saturday and caused chaos around the country. The day was promoted as a chance to celebrate the first Saturday of summer "by sharing a crate with your mates" although there is concern by some support agences that some listeners see it as a challenge to drink a crate of beer on their own.

Western Bay of Plenty police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said police dealt with at least five disorder incidents and assaults related to Crate Day parties. Most of the people spoken to were between the ages of 18 and 20, he said.

In one instance a party-goer suffered a broken jaw.

Excessive drinking, and promotions which encouraged it, impacted on the whole community, particularly youth, Mr Paxton said.

"Youth and others that have drunk to excess are particularly vulnerable when under the influence of alcohol and we often see significant negative outcomes for our youth and communities in these situations," he said. "We have significant concerns about the safety of those who have drunk to excess and are vulnerable to the approaches of others when in that state."

Hamner Clinic chief executive David Benton said anything that encouraged binge-drinking was negative.

"The evidence is very clear that binge drinking is a major cause of health and social problems," he said. "The problem with alcohol is that it's a central nervous centre depressant. The thing that it immediately depresses is the area of the brain which controls self control and inhibition."

Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust executive director Tommy Wilson said Crate Day only served to glamourise binge drinking and should be rebranded "National Overdose Day".

"You put that much alcohol in front of kids or unseasoned drinkers and they just can't handle it. We don't treat alcohol with the concern it deserves. It's a powerful drug and we need to treat it as such," he said. "Twenty people a week are dying from grog and 14 people a year are dying from P."

Mr Wilson said he often dealt with the effects of drunkenness on Monday mornings in the form of beaten wives or mothers whose children had gone off the rails.

"It's just ugly juice. It turns happy people into ugly people ... we're creating a nation of little juice junkies," he said.

Mount Medical Centre GP Tony Farrell said drinking a crate of beer put people very close to the 30 standard drinks which is considered to be a fatal dose.

"The likelihood that people will drink over the potentially lethal dose is high. We know that once people get to that level the potential for injury is high," he said.

"The chance of someone getting in their car and driving is high on Crate Day.

"The chance of someone getting into a fight and getting a fatal head injury or falling off a balcony is high."

A spokewoman for The Rock said the radio station did not promote irresponsible drinking.

"The Crate Day promotion is an annual event that taps into the Kiwi tradition of big summer barbecues and gatherings with family and friends, encouraging listeners to celebrate the first weekend of summer by sharing a crate with their mates."