Revealed: The ugly facts behind teenage drinking

What causes our kids to edge toward crime and violence? Alcohol, bad families, gangster culture, plain old boredom? Today, as our investigative series continues, local teens talk openly about their drinking habits.
We asked the "experts" - four seasoned teenage drinkers - to talk about their drinking habits.
They all started when they were underage, saying it was cool because it was forbidden, and a good way to socialise.
Marie, 19, first got drunk when she was 12 at a family New Year's Eve do. She "coma-ed out" and woke up in hospital with severe alcohol poisoning.
Georgina, 19, first got ``trolleyed'' at age eight. She started getting "legless" at the pub at 14.
Latoya, 19, got drunk for the first time at age 10.
Rose, 18, is also a seasoned drinker.
As underagers, they'd get their older friends to buy booze for them, or they'd stop "random strangers" outside liquor stores, get them to buy drink in return for the change or a few cigarettes.
To get into clubs and pubs they'd "dress slutty", and while they reckoned the clubs are now harder to get into, pubs are just as easy.
The four girls laughed and joked about tricking their parents into giving money for movies or cigarettes, then sneaking off into town and blowing it on booze.
Before going to a pub or club, they'd get drunk on cheap vodka straight from the bottle, bourbon from a cola bottle, or ready-to-drink pre-mixed spirit drinks, known as "RTDs".
Then they'd engage in the dangerous pastime of hitching around town.
Marie reckoned she used to stand on the corner of Rathbone St "flashing people" to get them to stop.
Rose used to go into town every weekend and see how many cars she could get into. "It was fun."
Georgina and her mates would all pile into a car, any car, for a ride around.
People would cram into the boot, or squash on top of each other in the back seat.
Those rides mostly ended at a beach where, inevitably, someone would want to go swimming, she said, rolling her eyes at the thought.
Marie, a diabetic, once got stuck in Dargaville for three days with no insulin after catching such a ride.
Crashes were fairly common.
"When you're young, drink driving is the biggest buzz," Georgina said.
But that buzz turned into tragedy for Latoya one night in Christchurch. She was in car with a few friends who'd been drinking, smoking dope and driving around all night. They were headed for a beach but didn't make it.
The car crashed, leaving one friend paralysed and suffering brain damage and another person dead. Latoya spent a long time in hospital recovering, before moving north.
Now she doesn't drink much at all.
Marie hardly touches alcohol either, after an horrific experience when somebody she thought of as a good friend spiked her drink with drugs. She was conscious but couldn't move a muscle as he raped her.
"I thought he was my mate, and when he offered me a drink I thought `sweet as'."
Georgina was the only one of the four who still loved hitting the bottle.
She drank a lot, regularly, and laughed at the thought that her entire family, including younger siblings, aunties and uncles were right into drinking.
The other three girls preferred what they called "quiet drinks" which Rose said meant just a few, not "skull, skull, skull until you throw up" like they used to do in their early teens.
All four said Whangarei was definitely becoming more violent.
The simplest thing can be a trigger for trouble. "Girls get beaten up for wearing skirts," said Marie.
Only "older mature ladies" got away with wearing skirts; if teenagers do they're "asking for a hiding", because they're "easy".
She saw a "massive punch-up" in a Whangarei night club a few weeks ago.
Two males came off the dance floor drenched in blood.
Georgina reckoned "kids" these days seemed to enjoy getting into serious fights more than they did a few years ago.
Younger teens bragged about "smashing" people.
"I watch young people drink now - they get aggro'. We weren't aggro' (at their age)."
? All names in this article have been changed.
* WHO CAN HELP?
Who's helping Whangarei kids to fight problem drinking?
? Te Roopu Kimiora (the pathway to wellness), Northland District Health Board's child and youth drug and alcohol and mental health service. The service started working in the drug and alcohol field in May. It is set up to help people aged 17 and under. Staff run clinics in the community, and will accept self referrals.
? Rubicon, a Government-funded youth drug-and-alcohol service in Dargaville and Whangarei for youth attending school. Rubicon employs three counsellors and three support staff.
? Salvation Army Bridge Programme. Last September the Sallies received $85,000 in Government funding for a two-year pilot programme for youth alcohol and drug treatment.
? Te Ora Hou. An incorporated society with a holistic approach to health and welfare. Offers mentoring and support to young people through group and individual programmes. Employs social workers and youth workers.