Reforming liquor laws to combat crime
From:
Brendon Burns
Date:
May 13 10:07 UTC
Short link
Hi Andrew, Blair and Christine, the circumstances were that the parents had
been drinking themselves; that's no crime - and the mother was very grateful
when Sarah arrived home safely, courtesy of the taxi organised. Sarah was
supposed to be staying the night with a friend. Whether this was one of the six
who refused to accompany their comatose friend is difficult to determine. It
was very sad to observe her being abandoned.
What was clear was that she had been drinking. One of the male friends, a boy
of 17, had a knapsack with beers and RTDs which he said had been obtained by an
18 year old friend (and on supplied...)
The 17 year old was given an on the spot $200 fine...
Many of us have been through similar rites of passage; one big difference is
alcohol is becoming more and more available at lower prices. From 300+ outlets
in Christchurch 20 years ago
to nearly 1200. And now supermarkets are pushing to gain the right to get full
liquor licences for adjunct facilities, meaning more capacity to heavily
discount and loss-lead.
Yes, there is a lot of societal change and a whole range of causes for today's
problems. And while young people are a particular issue, problems with excess
alcohol stretch across all ages. It is our number one drug problem. Let's
attempt to deal with the one factor that police, ambulance officers, A+E staff
and others at the frontline say is the cause of 75%+ of weekend
crime and injuries. As a society do we really want or need such rights as the
capacity to buy booze at 3 am or 7am from a dairy, or from a never
ending increase in outlets? Where
is the effort to minimise harm, which is the basis of our liquor legislation?
The forum to discuss the liquor laws
is now confirmed for St Michaels and
All Angels Church, Oxford Tce, 7pm
Tuesday June 3. All welcome
Brendon Burns
.