8th July 2011

Alcohol Action NZ has just completed its annual two-day meeting in Wellington and is optimistic that full alcohol law reform will occur in New Zealand, that it is now not a matter of if but when.

"But there is a lot of work to do" said Professor Doug Sellman, one of the medical spokespeople for Alcohol Action. "New Zealand's alcohol crisis that is killing 20 people a week and damaging more than 200 people a day through alcohol-related physical and sexual assaults, is just starting to be properly recognised"

"The policies that will make a significant difference such as increasing the price, reducing accessibility, dismantling the advertising and sponsorship and stopping legal drunk driving continue to be studiously avoided in the government's Alcohol Reform Bill for now, while the alcohol industry is laughing all the way to the bank".

"There is something deeply wrong when the YWCA has one of its main priorities the training of young women to be safe when going out socialising as was described at the conference" added Professor Jennie Connor, another Alcohol Action spokesperson. "This highlights the domination of the social environment by heavy drinking - a virtual alcoholic war-zone after dark in New Zealand".

On the first day, the conference was reminded about the role of the alcohol industry in creating and maintaining the heavy drinking culture and delegates were updated on the amount being spent on alcohol advertising and marketing by Professor Sally Casswell, one of the keynote speakers at the public meeting at Te Papa.

"We have been quoting a figure of $200,000 a day being spent on alcohol marketing and sponsorship in New Zealand for the past two years" said Professor Sellman. "The figure that Professor Casswell quoted makes it over $300,000 a day".

"That's an avalanche of daily brainwashing from the drug pushers" he said. "No wonder so many New Zealanders continue to think that alcohol is just an innocuous supermarket product that is good to take in large quantities on a daily basis."

"But even worse, the alcohol barons work very very hard behind the scenes to quietly subvert the development of public policies that would better protect New Zealanders from the harm from this drug".

The conference reminded delegates how the same tactics for subversion used by the Tobacco Industry in the past are those being used by the Alcohol Industry today.

"But just as New Zealand has become a better country through Smokefree, New Zealand can also become a much happier society and more pleasant to live in through a substantial reduction in its heavy drinking" said Professor Connor. "A NZ without so much alcohol damage will become a reality".

ENDS

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