Alcohol FAQ

The original idea of lowering the drinking age was that it was recognition that 18 and 19 year olds were drinking alcohol anyway. There is evidence of the ‘halo effect’; the idea that lowering the drinking age has in turn lowered the “acceptable” drinking age, resulting in increased harmful drinking amongst those below the legal drinking age. NZ Police report that due to the halo effect, the de facto drinking age is now 14-17. 

Of available actions to reduce alcohol related harm, tightening alcohol sponsorship and marketing has the weakest evidence behind it. TOP will keep a watching brief on the evidence base in this area.

In 2012 the Government allowed Local Authorities to create Local Alcohol Policies (LAPs) that theoretically allow locals greater say over the placement and hours of alcohol outlets. However this approach has been found to be legally lacking; in 2016 Dunedin City Council got taken to court for trying to implement them. The Opportunities Party would work with Local Authorities to review the LAPs and make sure they contain minimum standards plus the ability for local people to truly have a say over how alcohol is sold in their area.

In 2014 the National Government also lowered the allowable blood alcohol level from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (0.08), to 50mg (0.05). There are some countries with a lower blood alcohol limit than this, such as Norway and Sweden (0.02). TOP’s position is that we need to evaluate the impact of the recent change before any further decisions are made.

Excise duty is levied per-unit of alcohol, and is expected to result in a 10% price increase on average. In practice it is unlikely to affect the price of craft beer bought in a bar much. There will be a far bigger proportional impact on the price of low cost alcohol bought from off-licenses and supermarkets.