NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Alcohol debate: The teen wasteland

By Chris Thompson
Herald on Sunday·
1 Sep, 2012 05:30 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A youth collapses on Queen St in the early hours of the morning. Photo / Geoff Dale

A youth collapses on Queen St in the early hours of the morning. Photo / Geoff Dale

Eighteen-year-olds can still buy liquor after a landmark vote in Parliament this week. Chris Thompson hit the streets of our biggest city to see how young people were taking the news.

If the teenager hunched over on one of Auckland's main streets early yesterday morning has a view on being given a drinking reprieve by the country's MPs, he is not capable of giving it. He is too busy throwing up.

And even if he had been capable, it's unlikely we could have got near him, as his friend starts moving towards us along Customs St, yelling obscenities.

Just around the corner, a young woman is too busy to be interviewed, throwing aimless drunken punches at a male adversary.

On Queen St though, several 18 and 19-year-olds are happy to share their joy at MPs deciding on Thursday not to raise the purchasing age for alcohol back to 20.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Hell yeah!" and "F***ing aye!" are the most common responses from one group of delighted 18-year-olds.

Holly Lawson, 18, reckons "the younger you are, the more you should drink".

Bradley Hyde, also 18, says even if the drinking age had been raised to 20, he could still have got hold of alcohol.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We should lower [the drinking age]" he says. "When I was 16, everyone was buying me alcohol. Every single 16-year-old is getting alcohol anyway."

Ann-Maree Beadle, 18, says she agrees the drinking age should stay at 18 because there will be more house parties if it is raised. She says she got around the drinking age when she was younger by using fake IDs.

There are mixed reactions in the slightly older age group. Porcia Tatana, 20, thinks "if you're old enough to go to war and to vote, you should be old enough to drink", an opinion echoed by David Herbert, 25.

But self-interest in the age debate is past for Jamie Baker, 23. "I don't mind raising the age. I think it will stop the problems. Raising the age will make it harder for young people to access alcohol."

Discover more

New Zealand

Plain packaging: This time it's serious

31 Aug 05:30 PM
New Zealand|crime

Tests find drugs in hundreds of drivers

31 Aug 10:43 PM
New Zealand|crime

How cannabis blunts teenage brains

31 Aug 05:30 PM
New Zealand|politics

Alcohol reformers keep pushing

31 Aug 05:30 PM

Ashleigh Lesley, 21, sees drunk people regularly in her job and thinks the drinking age should have been raised to 20.

"I work at a nightclub and there are some people who cannot hold their liquor. There are people who should be drinking and people who shouldn't."

But it's sobering times for the promoters of change. National Addiction Centre director Doug Sellman says politicians have missed the best chance to give the public what they wanted.

"Reducing the purchase age was the only actual 'reform' in the Alcohol Reform Bill," he says. "All the rest is just tinkering. All the things that could have made a difference - raising the minimum price; reducing accessibility to alcohol by limiting hours and numbers of outlets; tackling the marketing and advertising; and lowering the drink drive levels - all these things have been carefully set aside."

Sir Geoffrey Palmer, the architect of many of the recommended law changes, won't even comment on the outcome in Parliament. The Law Commission considered 2939 written submissions and held 50 meetings in drafting its plans.

All of that's far above the head of 19-year-old Joe Wade, who is propped up against a carpark entrance on the corner of Wyndham and Albert Sts.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He sits next to a puddle of his own vomit, which is trickling down towards the road. He perks up when he receives a phone call from a friend.

And he's now alert enough to answer the question. Is he old enough to be drinking? "You've got to have mates with you," he mumbles as he stumbles off into the night.

- Additional reporting Edward Rooney

WE SAY

Try this special Herald on Sunday pop quiz:

It's legally available to most of the population.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It puts hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Kiwis in hospital each year.

It causes many deaths, and creates a huge financial drain on the health system.

What are we talking about - tobacco or alcohol?

If you said both, you'd be right.

Not that you'd know it from the actions of our parliamentarians in recent weeks.

The price of tobacco is going through the roof; cigarettes are now locked away from public view in supermarkets and other outlets; and plain packaging is on the horizon.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Contrast it to what is happening on the alcohol front.

The drinking age stays at 18; there is no minimum pricing; there is no movement on the drink-driving limit; the liquor industry is given the right to decide its own alcohol limits in ready-to-drink mixes (RTDs).

Tobacco, apparently, is the evil empire.

The alcohol industry, meanwhile, has too much clout to be reined in.

It's enough to make the fair-minded spew, just like the kids on Queen St were doing early yesterday morning.

Tell us what you think, email letters@hos.co.nz

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Nine Lotto players win nearly $31k each in Second Division – where tickets were sold

06 Jul 05:31 AM
New Zealand

'Remarkable' drugs: Benefits and drawbacks of Ozempic, Wegovy revealed

06 Jul 04:12 AM
New Zealand

Traumatised woman who found 'real love and care' in NZ avoids deportation

06 Jul 04:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Nine Lotto players win nearly $31k each in Second Division – where tickets were sold

Nine Lotto players win nearly $31k each in Second Division – where tickets were sold

06 Jul 05:31 AM

Lotto First Division Powerball was not struck and has jackpotted to $10m on Wednesday.

'Remarkable' drugs: Benefits and drawbacks of Ozempic, Wegovy revealed

'Remarkable' drugs: Benefits and drawbacks of Ozempic, Wegovy revealed

06 Jul 04:12 AM
Traumatised woman who found 'real love and care' in NZ avoids deportation

Traumatised woman who found 'real love and care' in NZ avoids deportation

06 Jul 04:00 AM
Air NZ flight lands safely in Auckland after hydraulic issue

Air NZ flight lands safely in Auckland after hydraulic issue

06 Jul 03:15 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP