Nearly half of all the alcohol stores in Tauranga are in the city's poorest areas. Photo / Getty Images
Nearly half of all the alcohol stores in Tauranga are in the city's poorest areas. Photo / Getty Images
Easy access to liquor in some of Tauranga's most deprived areas is contributing to harm, frontline addiction and social workers say.
Issues linked to alcohol abuse ranged from having little money left to spend on food to addiction, domestic violence, crime and unemployment, and disproportionately affected people in vulnerable communities.
Tauranga City Council data shows there are 81 off-licensed alcohol premises in the city including liquor stores, supermarkets and specialty stores.
Of these, 27 were in areas with a deprivation index score of eight or higher, on a scale where 10 is the most deprived.
Nine more were located just a street or two away from those areas, in zones with lower deprivation measurements.
Per standard drink, cask wine was the cheapest at 77 cents and popular brands of beer, wine, RTDs and spirits were sold at $1.30 or less per standard drink.
Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Shirley McCombe. Photo / Supplied
Salvation Army analyst Ana Ika said it was "not right" there were so many places to buy liquor in Tauranga.
Those needing help with issues related to alcohol were often the city's poorest people, she said.
The agency saw addictions, domestic violence and financial hardship linked to alcohol every day, disproportionately in high-deprivation areas.
"We know that the excessive availability of alcohol in the communities that we work in contributes to these challenges."
Ika said those in low socio-economic areas were often already struggling with housing, finances, children's education, and employment and led to high levels of anxiety and stress.
"Without adequate support, alcohol is used as a coping mechanism."
Vulnerable communities often did not have the means or resources to navigate the alcohol licence objection process or the district licensing hearings to be able to keep new off-licence alcohol stores from setting up in their community, she said.
The agency has been calling for the Ministry of Justice to review the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.
Alcohol Action NZ chairman and Mount Maunganui GP Tony Farrell said people in poorer areas suffered disproportionately due to alcohol-related harm.
Farrell said he had seen a man who lost his eye in a fight after walking home from the pub.
"I have had to assist victims of rape and interpersonal violence, and I have counselled families who have lost loved ones to drink-driving accidents."
Alcohol-related harm had caused more than 200 medical conditions, foetal alcohol syndrome, crime, injuries and domestic violence, he said.
"It is important to keep in mind that a person dies every two weeks in this country from overdose of alcohol."
It was a key factor in death from injury, cancer and is associated with a third of suicides, he said.
Addiction was also linked to job loss, financial deprivation and poor health outcomes.
Farrell said alcohol was normalised in New Zealand, which meant it could be overlooked as a factor when people died by suicide or cancer, or suffered violence.
"[Some] will say that drinking has reduced overall, but they don't say that the high-risk drinkers are drinking more than ever."
He said there was a significant effect from the substance on poorer whānau and there was not enough being done to protect them, while Māori suffered disproportionately.
Alcohol Action NZ chairman and Mount Maunganui GP Tony Farrell. Photo / Supplied
Māori men have a more-than-double death rate from alcohol, and Māori children - shown in a webcam study - were exposed to five times the amount of alcohol advertising.
However, Farrell said the community was more aware of the "huge" negative impacts of alcohol and it was encouraging to see resistance to greater availability of booze.
Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Shirley McCombe said it had many clients who struggled with alcohol but it was not only a problem for people on low incomes.
McCombe said some clients living with addiction spend all their money on alcohol and have little left for food.
"It is important to remember that most of these clients do not want to live this way but addiction is a powerful force."
She said there were pockets of deprivation across Tauranga and the supermarket availability opened up alcohol to everyone, which was an issue.
Tauranga City Council environmental health and licensing team leader Sam Kemp said the District Licensing Committee (DLC), an independent body outside the council, was responsible for granting or refusing an application for a licence.
The applications were reviewed and reported on by the police, a medical officer of health representative, and an inspector, who decide whether to support or oppose an application.
The applicant must publicly advertise they have applied for a licence and if the public, inspector or agencies object or oppose the application, the matter was heard by a public hearing before the committee, which decides if a licence can be granted or not.
A Tauranga City Council spokeswoman said the DLC re-examines the merits of all alcohol premises' licences at the time of their renewal and the public can object and be heard in a public forum.
The committee takes proliferation issues into account when appropriate, she said.
"Off-licensed premises are lawful, and therefore applicants are allowed to establish if they meet the criteria of the Act."
A spokesman for Minister of Justice Kris Fa'afoi's office said he was concerned about the misuse of alcohol and expected the initial scoping of a review of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to begin later this parliamentary term.
The timing and scope depended on Cabinet's consideration and approval.
