An archive of recent news articles on the topic of alcohol and drugs.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169
Drugged drivers next on safety hit list
18th January 2012
In the war against drugged drivers an advertising campaign reveals the reactions of secretly filmed New Zealanders when they are told the driver of the car they are in is high on drugs. The new road safety campaign hits television screens this weekend with the unscripted responses of people who thought they were being driven to a costume fitting for a commercial. Instead they were being covertly filmed by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and their drivers were actors pretending to be under the influence of drugs.
more...
Smoking rates run out of puff
18th January 2012
Smoking rates could fall below 20 per cent this year as thousands of Kiwis are expected to kick the habit. Quitline's Bruce Bassett said adult smoking rates could fall to the lowest levels since records began. He said 21 per cent of adult New Zealanders smoked and about 9000 people were expected to use Quitline services in January. "It's going to be really busy." He said more than a fifth of those who used quitting services stayed smoke-free.
more...
Kiwis, Australians top world dope list
17th January 2012
Cannabis is the world's most popular illicit drug - and Australia and New Zealand top the list of users, an Australian study has found. The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, found that each year worldwide, about 200 million people use illegal drugs. Cannabis is the most favoured drug of choice, and Australia and New Zealand were found to share the highest rate of usage. An estimated 10 to 15 per cent of people aged between 15 and 64 smoked the drug in those two countries in the past year, the report says.
more...
NZ's world-high drug use no surprise - Experts
17th January 2012
Experts are not surprised by new research showing New Zealand and Australia share the highest rates of cannabis and methamphetamine use in the world. The Australian study, published in British medical journal The Lancet, has led to renewed calls for a rethink of New Zealand's drug policies. The researchers found cannabis use on both sides of the Tasman was the highest in the world, with 10 to 15 per cent of people aged between 15 and 64 having smoked it in the last year. The use of drugs like methamphetamine and ecstasy was also the highest in the world, with 2.8 per cent of people having taken them in the last year.
more...
Campaigner forces name change on Mana electronic cigarettes
22nd December 2011
A Maori anti-smoking advocate has forced a Christchurch business to change the name of its non-addictive Mana-brand electronic cigarette. Shane Bradbrook said the name Mana was sickening given that 600 Maori died every year from smoking and the choice of name suggested it was targeted at his people. Topfloor Sales & Marketing sells the battery-operated device, which delivers a vapour instead of smoke. Similar products contain nicotine but the Mana product does not.
more...
Alcohol-price finding challenged
22nd December 2011
Research that claims lifting the price of alcohol will not curb binge drinking has been denounced by a leading alcohol health promotion group. The research, from Australia's Griffith University, found there was no significant change to the number of occasions people engaged in binge drinking when the price of liquor rose. However, price rises did increase the number of days people went alcohol-free, while the the number of days people consumed between one and four drinks (non-binge drinking) also fell. But Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams said overall research had shown that price was one of the best tools available to reduce overall consumption and harm.
more...
Quake contractors' cocaine bust
21st December 2011
Two of the men arrested in a cocaine smuggling bust were contractors helping to rebuild Christchurch. And detectives who broke the alleged drug ring have now switched their focus to finding its ringleader overseas. More than $1 million of the Class A drug was seized at Auckland's airport, and five people were arrested and charged in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch this week.
more...
Manurewa community fights liquor license
21st December 2011
Manurewa community members are fighting a superette's application to sell beer and wine, saying its proximity to schools puts youngsters at risk. They say that the death of a 30-year-old at the local Woody's Bar at the weekend shows the area needs less alcohol availability, not more. Greenmeadows Superette on Myers Rd has applied for an off-licence between the hours of 7am and 10pm.
more...
Smokers choke on rise of price tag
20th December 2011
A standard 20-pack of cigarettes will break through the $15 price tag on New Year's Day. The 14.6 per cent price hike, the result of the annual adjustment to the excise duty, is the third since June last year. Scientist and tobacco industry whistleblower Dr Jeffrey Wigand said New Zealand had made progress at fighting tobacco addiction but more work was needed.
more...
Kronic calls to poisons centre plunge after ban
20th December 2011
Use of Kronic and other synthetic cannabis products appears to have been stubbed out. The number of calls to the National Poisons Centre in Dunedin about the drugs has plummeted to almost zero. Calls about products such as Kronic peaked in June at 16. But after the Government banned them in mid-August, that number dropped to just one in September. There have been no calls about synthetic cannabis since October.
more...