Monday, October 12, 2009

Vote for Prohibition?


I’ve never thought much about why I continue to chose not to drink alcohol but I guess that disappointment with the outcomes of the 1989 liberalisation of the sale of liquor in this country is one reason.

The lawmakers of that time had hopes for the introduction of a more civilised pattern of using alcohol. They thought that making liquor more readily available would change the binge drinking culture of 6pm closing. They believed that ready availability of alcohol in eating places would eliminate some drunkenness. And they decided, for better or for worse, that young people should have access to alcohol earlier.

Alas, the hoped-for outcomes have not appeared. Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who was in the government when the law was liberalised now finds himself appalled at what he has seen in the small hours. The Law Commission he now heads intends to ask the government to completely re-write the entire Sale of Liquor Act, not just make a few more amendments. Their discussion document highlights a whole raft of important issues and invites submissions by the end of October.

Alcohol Healthwatch, a charitable trust, is taking an even stronger stance. Led by medical and scientific experts, this group of volunteers have taken their “Ten things the liquor industry won’t tell you about alcohol” all round the country. I was fortunate to attend this presentation at Waitangi a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed with their motivation and their research. They are urging us to find a middle way between the present over-consumption and the unrealistic and dated concept of prohibition.

This is a rare opportunity to have creative input into an issue that adversely affects 700,000 drinkers in this country. The Law Commission wants to hear from us. AHW says that if alcohol had just appeared on the scene, with its known capacity to kill a thousand people a year, the country would be in the grip of widespread panic and we would have declared a national emergency.

Study the websites http://www.talklaw.govt.nz/ and http://www.ahw.org.nz/ and send a submission to the Law Commission by 31st Oct 09.

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