NZ’s Alcohol History on Repeat

In 1918, they closed bars across the country at six o’clock, in an attempt to curb the drinking problem. The idea was that if we shut the supply of alcohol off, people simply won’t drink.

Unsurprisingly trying to suppress New Zealanders from drinking alcohol turned into the six o’clock swill, where patrons would drink as much alcohol as they could before six o’clock resulting in all sorts of problems including domestic violence and cementing a binge-drinking culture.

They say that those who don’t understand and appreciate history are doomed to repeat it, and it seems as though public health officials haven’t taken a history lesson lately, because trying to suppress what and when people can drink simply will not work.

It seems that these public health officials spend their entire careers telling us what we can and can’t drink, when we should exercise and when we should sleep. But what we really need from them is to focus on getting us out of this pandemic and prepare adequately so that we can respond better to the next pandemic than the current fiasco we are all paying for.

It also seems though that some of these officials have not bothered to look at the latest Government figures on alcohol consumption. Statistics New Zealand have reported that alcohol available for sale which is a proxy for consumption, has actually decreased over many years, even when our population has increased.

I agree that times have changed, and the likes of alcohol delivery and click and collect pose new challenges in the sale and supply of alcohol. We should investigate ways to ensure that those underage cannot purchase alcohol through the likes of home delivery in a lockdown environment.

However the drinking age is set at 18, and public health officials and politicians should not meddle in individual freedoms of adults who can make decisions for themselves.

Last week Sir John Key told the nation that ruling by fear does not work. The same holds true for the likes of alcohol and tobacco, you only need to look at the graphic images on tobacco products which are simply not as effective as officials had led us to believe.

There are always people out there for who alcohol is problem, but for most it is not. Every year, like clockwork, officials come out and tell us we need to tighten up our alcohol laws. But regulation in this space has seldom worked, and just as in 1918 when they shut bars at six o’clock, it could well make the problem worse.