An archive of recent news articles on the topic of alcohol and drugs.
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Angry vibe shocks CBD resident
21st May 2012
A longtime Queen St resident says alcohol-related trouble has become much more "violent and angry" in the past year, as police have been less visible after dark. But police argue they are out in greater numbers than ever at the weekends and are doing the best job possible to monitor the area and clamp down on drunken troublemakers. Martyn Bradbury, a broadcaster and blogger, has been living in the CBD for 20 years. He lives above Queen St and said he could not remember a time when the tension on the street at night had been so high.
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Schools stamp out afterball bashes
17th May 2012
Schools are taking a hard line to stop students going on to late-night parties after their official school balls. One school has banned students from leaving the ball venue - even with their parents - unless it's on an organised bus. St Kentigern College has sent a letter to parents asking them not to organise afterball parties. It is instead extending the ball - being held at SkyCity next month - but has set strict conditions on transport after the function.
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Shock at culture of booze on Queen St
17th May 2012
A man who walked his partner to work after he was harassed and chased by drunks on Auckland's main street was disgusted at the level of drunken fighting, vomiting and vandalism he saw. But there are hopes a change to alcohol laws will reduce the weekend carnage in the CBD. Scott Swanson was shocked at the state of Queen St at 5am on Saturday. "Three weeks ago my partner was walking to work at 5am. Somebody chased him, he needed to run. He was harassed and yelled at," he said.
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Crime spree sparked by synthetic cannabis
16th May 2012
A crime spree by a Dunedin teenager was sparked by his synthetic cannabis habit, police say. Profiling by the Dunedin Intelligence Section and followup inquiries resulted in the arrest of a 17-year-old unemployed youth on Friday. Acting Senior Sergeant Chris McLellan said the man was found in possession of the synthetic cannabis Tai High, and later told police he stole from vehicles to fund his up to two-pack a day habit.
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Slower breaths, quicker life
16th May 2012
Heavy pot smokers will suffer serious lung disease two decades earlier than their cigarette-smoking counterparts, and the style of dope smoking is to blame. The deep, slow inhalation and long breath hold is predisposing cannabis smokers to a condition of rapid lung destruction much younger in life, a study by Melbourne researchers has found. A team from the Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine at Monash University reviewed the lung condition of middle-aged chronic cannabis smokers.
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Teen drink-drive numbers falling
15th May 2012
The number of teenagers caught drink-driving has halved in the past five years - but some of those who are stopped are showing levels far above the adult limit. Police figures released to the Herald show a dramatic drop in the number of under-17s caught drink-driving, from 630 in 2007 to 305 last year. The figures follow law and policy changes - including a zero limit for drivers under 20, increasing the driving age to 16 and making the restricted licence test harder - aimed at reducing the road toll. The national road policing manager, Superintendent Rob Morgan, said the statistics were encouraging and reflected efforts by the Government and police to stop teens driving drunk.
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14 arrests for flouting liquor ban
15th May 2012
Fourteen people were arrested in a police sting in Palmerston North targeting breaches of the inner city liquor ban. Teams of officers arrested eight females and six males in the operation, held in the streets surrounding The Square on Friday and Saturday nights. It is illegal to consume liquor anywhere in the central city except at a licensed venue.
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Editorial: Drinking age more than a liquor issue
14th May 2012
The drinking age - more precisely, the minimum age at which somebody can legally be sold alcohol - is much more than a liquor regulation. It is a social milestone that recognises every citizen's coming of age. It is not the only one. The voting age, also 18, is a more fitting mark of citizenship. But the drinking age was lowered from 20 to 18 near the end of the 20th century partly on the argument that if young people were considered old enough to vote, and could be called on to fight for their country, they could be trusted with alcohol too. That argument seems to have fallen by the wayside since MPs began to have second thoughts about the drinking age a decade ago. Public health researchers pointed to a rise in binge-drinking among the young (not confined to the under-20s) and argued that teenagers under 18 had much easier access to alcohol once 18-year-olds could buy it.
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Stop-drinking campaign to reclaim Sunday morning
14th May 2012
One in six New Zealand adults has a potentially hazardous drinking pattern, but a new campaign hopes to change that and our drinking culture. Hello Sunday Morning, launched in New Zealand today, encourages people to give up the drink for a period of time and blog about their experiences. "New Zealanders have a real problem with alcohol, it's so ingrained in our culture, to go out and get drunk on a Saturday night ... we're just hoping to change that attitude towards drinking," said Jazz Rowland, an ambassador of the programme.
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Police spot cannabis in burglary victim's house
10th May 2012
A burglary victim faced charges of his own when police found cannabis in his Hamilton house this week. City tactical co-ordinator, Senior Sergeant Freda Grace, said events unravelled for the man after some outstanding work by a neighbour led to the arrest of a burglar. "The neighbour heard the sound of glass breaking next door and went to investigate. "Confronting a man who fled through the house and out the front door, the man thwarted the burglar's attempts to escape on a bike he had taken earlier," she said. The neighbour gave a description of the offender to police as he chased him on foot.
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