War on Drugs: Aotearoa Edition Associate Editor, Vivien Whyte (she/her), discusses the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill after it fails its first reading. Amongst news dominated by fervent questions about the cost of living crisis and many head-smacks caused by Wayne Brown, you may have completely missed the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill being drawn from the parliamentary biscuit tin and its subsequent progress towards (maybe) becoming part of the law. Dubbed the “Booze Bill” by Radio NZ, the Bill seems to be grappling with much more than alcohol harm. It has come head to head with alcohol’s place in “Kiwi culture”. Alcohol is, by far, Aotearoa’s favourite drug. Built on a foundation of the ‘six o’clock swill’ - a binge drinking frenzy caused by restrictive licensing laws from the 1910s to 1960s excessive and binge drinking culture in Aotearoa has been normalised to the point of glorification as a quintessential part of our identity. On paper, the Bill aims to reduce alcohol harm by improving community input into local alcohol policies and ending alcohol sponsorship of broadcast sports. And it’s this last point in particular that seems to have people stumped. Sports and beer. Friday nights at the pub. Getting pissed with your mates. They’re all Kiwi-as. Why would anyone want to attack that? Especially whilst our businesses are struggling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sports and beer. Friday nights at the pub. Getting pissed with your mates. They’re all Kiwias. Why would anyone want to attack that? News headlines like “Banning Booze in Sports” and opening lines like “The fight for people’s right to be able to buy alcohol…” clearly suggest that Kiwis should be steeling themselves for an epic battle to defend our cherished cultural norms. It’s my opinion that this has been an unfortunate case of correlation without causation. Misassociation and misinterpretation. Easily accessible and highly addictive, alcohol is not only our favourite drug. But our most harmful. In 2020/21, one in every five New Zealand adults were identified as having a hazardous
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drinking pattern that places them and/or others at risk of harm*. The cost of this harm is overwhelming - affecting lives, families and community well-being. Not only that but the harm caused by alcohol is experienced disproportionately by Māori, Pasifika and low-income communities. This is a systemic flaw in our laws that, without change, will continue to create harmful cycles for generations to come. Unlike funding decisions and tax cuts, it’s not immediately obvious how our laws around alcohol perpetuate this harm and its disproportionate impact on certain communities. Over the last 30 years increases in the number of places selling alcohol (particularly in low-income areas), the variety of products available, reductions in pricing and increasingly pervasive alcohol marketing strategies have all sealed our fate. Put together, this availability and exposure to alcohol - especially from a young age - has permeated the subconscious of our nation and left us blindsided when it comes to addressing the key drivers of alcohol harm. Whilst advertising other drugs, including vaping and smoking, is prohibited, our laws provide very little protection against the most harmful of them all. That’s what the Bill is about. Reducing the harm of alcohol on individuals, communities and our nation as a whole. That’s also why it’s sad to see how much the Bill is stumbling towards the finishing line. Having already failed its first reading and both National and ACT likely to vote against, things are looking rather bleak. *source: Ministry for Health’s New Zealand Health Survey.