An archive of recent news articles on the topic of alcohol and drugs.
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More booze outlets mean more violence in South Auckland - study
18th December 2012
A new study has shown that violent crime and motor vehicle accidents are more prevalent in parts of South Auckland that have higher numbers of alcohol outlets than other areas. And it has recommended that local authorities consider the effects additional alcohol outlets would have on particular communities before granting new licences. The study, Alcohol outlet density is related to police events and motor vehicle accidents in Manukau City, New Zealand, was funded by the Alcohol Advisory Council and supported by the old Manukau City Council.
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Low nicotine cigarettes would reduce smoking - study
17th December 2012
Introducing a low tax category for very low nicotine content cigarettes would rapidly reduce smoking rates to much lower levels, according to a public health medicine specialist. In his study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, End Smoking NZ Trust chairman Murray Laugesen found that imposing less tax on denicotinised, or denic, cigarettes would reduce consumption of normal, addictive cigarettes. A two-tier excise policy would be kinder to smokers, allowing them to select and smoke a mix of expensive addictive cigarettes and low-cost denics to control smoking costs, reduce cravings and help people quit.
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Researchers join roadblocks
17th December 2012
Drink-drivers who pass breath tests at the centre of road risk study. Researchers are on the roads trying to estimate how many people are driving around just under the limit in the face of the Government's refusal to lower drink-driving thresholds. University of Canterbury senior lecturer Eric Crampton was out with Christchurch police on Friday night looking for drivers who had been drinking. Crampton said it was impossible to know whether the number of people killed in crashes involving drivers with blood-alcohol readings of 50mg to 80mg - as revealed in the Herald on Sunday last week - was high until it was known how many drivers were on the road with that level of alcohol in their systems.
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Thousands stubbing out
13th December 2012
Latest Health Ministry figures show efforts to get smokers to quit are working. About 70,000 fewer adults smoke tobacco daily now than three years ago, the latest official survey has found. The Health Ministry will today release smoking prevalence data, including the ethnic breakdown of the figures, from its latest New Zealand Health Survey, conducted last year and this year. However, a preview snippet of the results, already published on the ministry's website, says the provisional data indicates that about 17 per cent of people aged 15 or older are daily smokers. That equates to about 600,000 people.
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Legal high firm pushes 'Crack' in dairies
12th December 2012
A new synthetic drug called Crack is being sold at Auckland dairies - with one outlet even offering to sell glass pipes to people who buy the white powder. The product has been condemned as irresponsible by the Drug Foundation, illicit drug users and a pioneer of the legal high industry. Crack is sold under the street name shared by the illegal drugs crack cocaine and methamphetamine, and comes in a clear plastic bag in a cardboard packet featuring an image of a glass pipe. The packaging encourages users to snort or smoke the white powder - the same methods used to consume P or cocaine - but does not list its ingredients or the contact details of its manufacturer or distributor.
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Alcohol reforms 'watered down'
12th December 2012
Labour and Green parties claim lobbying by private interests has derailed the original bill. The long road to reforming New Zealand's alcohol laws has ended amid bitter protests that the legislation was a pale imitation of the landmark Law Commission report it was based on. MPs passed the reforms yesterday, which means that in 12 months' time bars will have to close earlier, alcohol promotions will be limited and parents will have to give express consent to allow minors to drink. Justice Minister Judith Collins said the reforms struck a sensible balance by reducing the serious harm caused by alcohol without penalising people who drank responsibly.
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Changing the Kiwi booze culture: It starts at home
11th December 2012
There are several reasons why we have a binge drinking culture but I believe they all start at home. I use to binge drink because my mum used to drink, but I was never allowed to. So I did it as soon as I could, as much as I could. But I grew out of it. If parents were to talk to their children about it, perhaps there wouldn't be the big 'it was naughty when I was a kid, so now I want to be naughty' culture that could be the basis for binge drinking, drugs, and a whole slew of other things. Social media is also to blame for making it too easy to get people to parties. It's not social media's fault. Again, it starts at home. It's the fault of the person using it, or the parent who is supposed to be in charge.
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Public muzzled on party pills tests
11th December 2012
Government officials discussed rushing through legislation allowing for the testing of party pills on dogs and other animals without any public consultation. The plan is included in documents obtained by the Sunday Star-Times which highlight Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne's U-turn following the paper's party pill testing revelations last weekend. The proposed testing regime included discussion over employing the controversial LD50 testing method, where doses of a drug increase until half the test group dies. Dunne, who has headed the Government's crackdown on party pills, initially said animal testing was "unavoidable to prove that products are safe for human beings" and "it is an unpleasant but necessary reality".
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Newtown to fight another liquor store
6th December 2012
Some Newtown people are concerned that a new off-licence liquor outlet proposed to open in the new year will be harmful to their community. Planned to open on Newtown Ave, Newtown Liquor Shop would be the fifth alcohol shop in the suburb. Newtown Community Centre co-ordinator Anna Costley said the proposed liquor store would be within 100m of two existing liquor outlets, near playgrounds, and open from 9am till 11pm, seven days a week. "For a suburb of Newtown's size, there are a lot of liquor outlets. It's very high density," she said. "It's hard for families to walk around Newtown without seeing alcohol advertising."
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Olympics: Four athletes stripped of medals, Armstrong case postponed
6th December 2012
The IOC has stripped medals from four athletes caught doping at the 2004 Athens Olympics including one gold medalist and postponed a decision to revoke Lance Armstrong's bronze from the 2000 Sydney Games. The IOC today disqualified four athletes whose Athens doping samples were retested earlier this year and came back positive, including shot put gold medalist Yuriy Bilonog of Ukraine.
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