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Alcohol Action Taranaki

Alcohol Action Taranaki. Start-up meeting 1 November 2010. The issue. National Crisis

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Alcohol Action Taranaki

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  1. Alcohol Action Taranaki Start-up meeting 1 November 2010

  2. The issue National Crisis • There is a national alcohol crisis. However, this crisis is under-recognized because we have become numbed by the unrelenting presence of alcohol-related problems. The national alcohol crisis has become our way of life. • At least 25% of New Zealand drinkers are heavy drinkers (Wells et al 2006) • A third of all police apprehensions involve alcohol (Stevenson 2009) • Half of serious violent crimes are related to alcohol (Stevenson 2009) • 60 different medical conditions are caused by heavy drinking (O’Hagan et al 1993)

  3. Up to 75% of adult presentations at Emergency Departments on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are alcohol-related (Quigley personal correspondence) • Over 300 alcohol-related offences every day (Stevenson 2009) • Over 500 serious and fatal injury traffic crashes every year (Erasmus 2009) • At least 600 children born each year with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (May & Gossage 2001) • Over 1000 alcohol deaths in New Zealand every year (Connor et al 2005) • 17,000 years of life per year are lost through alcohol (Connor et al 2005)

  4. The 5+ solution The 5+ Solution is a set of policy directives which are a real solution to the national alcohol crisis: • 1. Raise alcohol prices • 2. Raise the purchase age • 3. Reduce alcohol accessibility • 4. Reduce marketing and advertising • 5. Increase drink-driving counter-measures

  5. PLUS: Increase treatment opportunities for heavy drinkers • The 5+ Solution is a set of policy directives based on the internationally acclaimed, World Health Organisation sponsored, publication, “Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity” written by fifteen of the top alcohol and public health scientists in the world (Babor et al 2003). It has recently been further endorsed by a paper in the leading medical journal The Lancet (Anderson et al 2009).

  6. WE HAVE THE CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OUR COUNTRY WHICH WILL AFFECT OUR FUTURE AND THAT OF OUR DESCENDANTS…

  7. The time is now… • The first reading of the new Alcohol Reform Bill will take place in the near future • Submissions will be called for shortly after – there is a 6 week period in which to get them in • Oral submissions will be heard very shortly after • Over summer the Select Committee meets to consider and argue the issues • They report back to Government • Final Bill will be introduced somewhere around March 2011

  8. How you can have your say • Via our website www.alcoholaction.co.nz • By postcard to Parliament – order these from coordinator@alcoholaction.co.nz • By putting pen to paper and sending in a personal SUBMISSION– these do not have to be long or complicated - we will be having a ‘submission writing’ session for those who want some help - once we know what the time frame is.

  9. WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO? • Join the local network of Alcohol Action NZ and get email updates - contact us through alcactiontaranaki@gmail.com • Sign up for the TWO DRINKS MAX campaign by visiting www.nzherald.co.nz/news • Promote discussion of the 5+ Solution to friends, neighbours, colleagues and family.

  10. WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO? Cont… • Print off and circulate copies of ‘JUST TINKERING’ • Submit some clever, informative Letters to the Editor of your local newspaper or other publications. • CHECK OUR FACEBOOK PAGE under the title alcohol action taranaki • Suggest other ideas, contacts or resources that would help promote Alcohol Action.

  11. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. Edmund Burke

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