Media Release

14 April 2004

Proactive Steps To Reduce Binge Drinking

New Zealand First is calling on the Government to raise the drinking age back to 20 after ALAC’s latest report indicated that there is a deeply ingrained binge drinking culture, particularly among young people.

“It is alarming to see the continuing increase in the number of binge drinkers among teenagers,” said youth affairs spokesperson Craig McNair.

“Health clinics have also reported a growing trend of young women who cannot recall the previous night’s course of events, placing them in a particularly vulnerable position.

“This problem can partly be attributed to the lowering of the drinking age to 18, which has resulted in more young New Zealanders being exposed to the dangers of alcohol.

“Proactive steps need to be taken to reduce the incidence of underage drinking. Raising the drinking age back to 20 would be a positive start,” said Mr McNair.

New Zealand First MP Ron Mark currently has a Private Member’s bill which calls for a return of the legal drinking age to 20.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>