August 09, 2021
Drink culture factor in Timaru tragedy
An expert in alcohol and drug harm says the death of five teenagers in a crash near Timaru is a wake up call for New Zealanders and especially rural communities to review their relationship with alcohol.
Police say alcohol and speed were factors in Saturday's accident in which an overloaded Nissan Bluebird sedan struck a power pole and disintegrated.
Tuari Potiki, the director of Māori Development at Otago University, says cars and alcohol have always been rights of passage for New Zealanders – but now the alcohol is increasingly more available and the cars are faster.
He says people who want to blame youth drinking need to look at their own behaviour.
"I remember years ago when I worked at ALAC (Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council), we did a survey of young people's alcohol use. These are 14 to 17 year olds. The reasons they gave were exactly the same reasons adults gave for why they drink – to be social, because it's accepted, because it's part of our culture, etc, etc. Younger people don't get this idea out of thin air or off the internet. It's what they see around them every day," he says.
Mr Potiki says many of the problems – and the solutions – were identified in the Law Commission's 2012 report on alcohol-related harm, but most of its recommendations were ignored.
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