Reduced alcohol access backed

Reduced hours for liquor retailers would be one step that could be taken locally towards denormalising a pervasive national drinking culture. Photo / NZME.

The social pressure on youth to drink is intense, with the ready availability of alcohol compounding the problem, say two frontline Whangarei social workers.

Te Ora Hou social worker Erana Pou said some Northlanders drank from the age of 14 or younger, with effects ranging from truancy, violence, behavioural problems, poverty and an increased risk of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in families with intergenerational drinking problems.

"Some young people might even be left homeless because they end up being kicked out by their parents," Mrs Pou said.

She and colleague Maggy Tohu said reduced hours for liquor retailers would be one step that could be taken locally towards denormalising a pervasive national drinking culture.

"To drink is the thing," Ms Tohu said. "Everywhere alcohol is portrayed as a fun lifestyle. You might have one ad saying, 'If you drive drunk you're a bloody idiot', in amongst how many programmes that show wining, dining [and] drinking?"

She said young people were particularly susceptible to the marketing of ready-to-drink mixes and any moves to reduce access would be welcome.

Mrs Pou described her peer group when she was a young woman as having enabled one another's drinking as a way of escaping reality.

"You find yourself with a group of people who feed off the negative environment you've created. If you're that person that has the home where the party is, then you end up going without because the needs of those other people become a priority," she said. "It gets to the stage where you're not able to function - and if it's happening to you then it's also happening to your children."

The Whangarei District Council's proposed draft alcohol policy includes no new bottle stores in Whangarei for six years, though existing licences can relocate if they have a compelling reason.

Supermarkets would be allowed to sell alcohol from 7am-10pm, while it was proposed bottle stores could sell from 9am-10pm.

•This story is part of a series running while bylaws involving alcohol in Whangarei are up for debate. Public submissions are open for the Whangarei District Council draft local alcohol policy until July 10. For details on how to make a submission, visit www.wdc.govt.nz