Time to get real about reforming alcohol laws

The demon drink, they used to call it, and now we know that alcohol definitely has its associated problems, even for those who think they have it all under control. We hear statistics quoted about booze all the time and yet strangely nothing much ever changes. About 30 per cent of all violent crime is fuelled by alcohol and about 70 per cent of all those arrested consumed alcohol prior to offending.

We want to blame the kids but adults create the rules, make the alcohol, and they are the ones who provide it even to the under-age drinkers. Seventy per cent of all under-age drinkers get their liquor from their parents. Those statistics have never changed, although the incidents go up because more people drink, and even with lessening crime statistics the influence of alcohol remains constant.

New alcohol laws are going through the parliamentary process right now and many believe they do not go far enough, which really reflects what we also know - most Kiwis accept that we have a drinking problem in New Zealand, but believe it's everyone else's drinking that is the problem and not their own.

The Government has instituted some steps such as zero-level blood/alcohol for under 20-year-old drivers and the use of inter-locks to prevent drunken driving for recidivist drink-drivers, as well as heavier penalties. The new bill will allow for communities to make their own rules around the number of licensed premises and where they are located and what hours they can operate and to institute "one-way door" policies and hours. People supplying alcohol to a minor must be the parent or have the express permission of a parent. Local Licensing Committees will hear objections to consents giving real teeth to local alcohol policy-making.

Of the 158 recommendations of the Law Commission, 127 are included in the report. The legal mechanism for restricting RTDs is in the bill, so if there is no compliance the Government can quickly regulate, and the question of minimum pricing is open should retail providers not reflect the will of Parliament on behalf of the community.

Advertising is constrained. Blood/alcohol research on crashes for those under the current legal limit is being collected and will influence what level it should be.

In the end, as everybody knows, we cannot legislate for drinking culture or for behaviour. It used to be that if a young person got drunk and vomited it was a sign of weakness and they were ridiculed. Now it seems getting so wasted that you can't stand up is a rite of passage.

We have laws against violence, arson and murder, but it doesn't stop people beating each other up, setting fire to things or killing people. It doesn't mean we should try and change behaviours, but it does add weight to the argument that communities, not laws, change behaviour.

The Law Commission recommended political parties vote as parties for the laws they support instead of having conscience votes on the Alcohol Law Reform Bill, a practice that has left us with liquor law that looks more like a dog's breakfast than legislation. The Government is sticking to this, but it's disappointing that Labour wants to slow down the law-making process point by political point. They are playing games.