The new laws seem OK to me. They probably won't achieve much but considering binge drinking is a cultural norm any radical changes would be politically unacceptable.

And the younguns cant really complain they're still allowed in the pub.

j2hyde wrote:And the younguns cant really complain they're still allowed in the pub.

But they cant have a beer with their fish'n'chips on friday night in front of the telly. Unless they get their mummy to buy it.

i think the off license sale of alchohol should be limited to those over 35, and pub entry limited to over 35 for guys but over 18 for chicks.

Joel wrote:i think the off license sale of alchohol should be limited to those over 35, and pub entry limited to over 35 for guys but over 18 for chicks.

Correction: 16 for chicks

pervert

Conners wrote:wuffy I'm confused - are you for it or against it?

Against it. The suggestions they have made won't change anything, and will just piss a lot of people off. They should do something that helps more than trying to fix a broken leg with a band-aid on the forehead.

- Putting the drinking age up was probably necessary even if it won't do a damn thing. Should have put it back to 20 across the board though.
- Limiting the spread of places that can sell alcohol might cut back on the kids who buy it from shady dairys, but just cutting back on the number of outlets won't suddenly stop people from drinking. Few/no people walk past a bottle shop and go "Fuck, I know, I'll go get wasted. Right now". People will still buy the same amount of booze, they'll just have to go a bit further to get it.
- Mostly the law seems to want to punish kids by taking away their cheap and sugary booze, whereas there's plenty of older problem drinkers who aren't being addressed at all. Loads of youngins drink RTDs responsibly, and loads of older people drink wine and top shelf like total mongoloids.

To reduce the harm alcohol does what they needed to do more than anything else was REDUCE THE FUCKING DRINK DRIVING LIMIT LIKE EVERYONE WHO KNOWS BETTER THAN THE POLITICIANS KEEPS FUCKING TELLING THEM TO DO. But of course being a limp-dick government that won't risk upsetting people (unless they can deliver a huge amount of $$$ to their buddies, in which case the risk of upsetting people might be worth it) they didn't do that.

They should ban cheap booze, like beer and premixed drinks, so all the lower classes who drink beer and fizzy alcohol can't buy it. That would solve the problem right there.

happybaboon wrote:To reduce the harm alcohol does what they needed to do more than anything else was REDUCE THE FUCKING DRINK DRIVING LIMIT LIKE EVERYONE WHO KNOWS BETTER THAN THE POLITICIANS KEEPS FUCKING TELLING THEM TO DO. But of course being a limp-dick government that won't risk upsetting people (unless they can deliver a huge amount of $$$ to their buddies, in which case the risk of upsetting people might be worth it) they didn't do that.

They were sitting around the Cabinet table thinking "Shit, if I can't drive with any alcohol in my system, when will I ever get to enjoy all my free-from-the-taxpayer grog ... and I can't use the chauffered car or the driver might tell my wife whose places I stop off at on the way home".

I remember when the minimum age was 21 for everything - drinking, voting, getting married without parental consent ... that was back when the huge majority of the population left school at 15-17 years old and started earning their own way in life, so they had to spend 4-6 years practising at being responsible adult members of society (yeah right) before they got the privileges. Now, most people finish their education at uni at 22-25 years old, so add on 5 years for integrating as responsible adult members of society and a drinking-voting age of approximately 30 looks about right.

wuffy wrote:

Conners wrote:wuffy I'm confused - are you for it or against it?

Against it. The suggestions they have made won't change anything, and will just piss a lot of people off. They should do something that helps more than trying to fix a broken leg with a band-aid on the forehead.

And just what do you propose as the ultimate solution?

Put all drunk and disorderly reets in a gas chamber

Seems to me that National have done the minimum to look like they are doing something without pissing off too much of the electorate and their mates at Lion Nathan.

The issue is a binge drinking culture and I'll freely admit I've got no ideas on how to fix that one.

Meh. As Kipper says the issue is our culture not the drinking age.

Finding a way to get rid of the dirt cheap crap booze so that binge drinkers basically cannot afford to "go buy a box" and then get wasted on it might change things a little?? Plonk some more tax on the cheap booze and put it back into the health care system that has to pick up after the drunks who have accidents...

Drunken-youths-trash-house
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/4053698/Drunken-youths-trash-house

Obviously many of the younger drinkers don't deserve to drink, as many can't do it in a respectful manner.

We could take some lessons from Italy and France and other parts of continental Europe where drinking wine at the family dinner at a young age is part of the culture. But I'm thinking is too late in NZ, the damage is done.
It will probably take a few generations of ween of the binge drinking mentality.