I was sent this link from KiwiBlog – David Farrar
Guess there is some influence in the NZ media. Those with the money and power have a certain message to get across, and the following doesn’t fit the agenda. Keep everyone in a state of fear.
An alcohol report that got little publicity
The World Health Organisation has just released its 2014 report on alcohol and health. It seems to have had almost no publicity here – possibly because it doesn’t support the claims of certain groups that NZ alcohol stats are really bad on a world scale. Some extracts you may not see elsewhere:
- Far from there being a catastrophic rise in alcohol abuse in New Zealand there has been a real reduction in drinking habits in the last 30 years. There was a sharp increase in total alcohol consumption per capita from 1970 through the early 1980s, then a sharp drop from 1985 through the late 1990s, and a slight upward trend since then. So things are not worse than they have ever been…in fact they are a lot better.
- The amount consumed per drinker, New Zealand ranks around 96th (13.7 litres of pure alcohol per capita). This ranks us slightly higher than France (at 12.9 litres) and slightly lower than the UK (at 13.8 litres). So on average, we are a nation of fairly moderate drinkers.
- We are constantly told that we have a “binge drinking” culture in New Zealand, but our rates of prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (classified as more than 6 standard drinks on at least one occasion in the past 30 days) is actually very low by global standards. The prevalence rate of heavy drinking for New Zealand was 5.6%. This is more than half that of Australia (13.6%), more than a quarter that of Canada (23.1%), and more than a sixth that of the United Kingdom (33.4%). So when you hear the claim we have 800,000 hazardous drinkers, it is quite a gross exaggeration (as the scare mongers here use a different definition).
Of course there are problems caused by alcohol abuse in New Zealand, and these should be mitigated if it can be done in a way where the benefits exceed the costs. But the narrative that NZ has an awful drinking problem, and it is much worse than in the past – is not true.
(David sorry to rip off your whole blog post, but I needed people to read it and they possibly wouldn’t click though)
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This article states the following:
New Zealand’s $16b hangover
“Kiwis slurp about 400 million litres of alcohol a year…”
“Mr Brooking says 10 per cent of Kiwi drinkers get through nearly half of all alcohol consumed…”
Therefore – 10% of 4.4 million people is 440,000 people drinking 50% of 400 million litres of alcohol = 200 million litres. So 440,000 people drink 200 million litres of alcohol = 455 litres each per year. Or 1.2 litres per day. (3.6 bottles of 330ml beer).
How is the 400 million litres of beer made up? 320 million of beer plus wine plus spirits? Why cant the media make it clear on the facts they are stating.
But above it says 800,000 hazardous drinkers.
I just wish that we could have the actual facts, not made up numbers, numbers from a survey, or poll someone has done. If we were all working with the same information then maybe we could all work towards a common goal. Using numbers for your end goal and agenda just makes you loss credibility.
NOW READ THIS BLOG POST FROM DOM (HASHIGO ZAKE)
Bringing Back The Fear
“In other words, nothing to see here. Consumption of alcohol over the last thirty to forty years has fallen.”
Dom this was a great blog post. Well researched and very informative.
P.S. found the follow two contradicting articles interesting. Crime falls, and police surprised they aren’t getting any more money.
Crime rate falls to 29-year low
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11230189
Police ‘despair’ at freeze
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/budget-2014/10050638/Police-despair-at-freeze
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