Drinkers waking up to danger of binges

New Zealanders are increasingly recognising the existence of a binge drinking culture, the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) says.

The council said people were starting to see the link between drunkenness and the harm that results from it.

A survey carreid out earlier in the year and released today showed the message is being picked up with some 83 per cent surveyed recalling some publicity about New Zealanders' drinking habits.

Almost half recalled the key message of the cmapign: "It's not the drinking; it's how we are drinking."

Dr Mike MacAvoy, chief executive officer of ALAC, said: "We commissioned the survey to see if attitudes had changed over the last two years. We also wanted to test the outcomes of our programme aimed at changing this toleration of binge drinking.

"What we found was that attitudes haven't changed around the acceptability of drunkenness which is to be expected as this stage of the programme.

"What is important though is that people are beginning to see there is a problem with the way we drink and they are also making the link between drunkenness and the harms that result."

He said people had previously focussed on drink driving or alcohol addiction,bu they were now starting to recognise the significance of crime, violence, falls, accidental injury and relationship problems.

Three-quarters of respondents agreed that they were more likely to cause harm to themselves or to others if they were drunk.

"At this stage of the campaign we are aiming to get New Zealanders to recognise that it's the way we drink that is the problem, that it is the excessive per occasion consumption or drunkenness," said Dr MacAvoy.

- HERALD ONLINE STAFF