Tommy "Kapai" Wilson, executive director of Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust, said neknominations were an example of an intergenerational fear of being seen as a "wuss".
"When I grew up it wasn't with a beer, it was with a bong. If you weren't the next person to have a bong you were a wuss."
Mr Wilson said youths needed to be shown they did not need to prove themselves on the end of a funnel or bong.
He said alcohol was a powerful drug and until it was treated the same way as other drugs, whether legal or illegal, youths would not take warnings seriously.
David Benton, director of Hanmer Clinic, said health information made it "pretty clear" that any form of rapid ingestion of alcohol was potentially dangerous to health, whether in the short term or long term.
"Alcohol ingested rapidly quickly affects the central nervous system which has potential side effects such as to pass out comatose, the ability to affect judgment and make decisions and therefore doing things out of character that are potentially harmful to yourself or others.
"It's certainly not healthy."
