Blue Jackie: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Blue Jackie: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 30 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:5016. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I would like to acknowledge Tim Macindoe for bringing his Supplementary Order Paper 280 on the Alcohol Reform Bill to the Committee. I am firmly behind raising the purchase age to 20 and 20. I would like to acknowledge the Minister in the chair the Minister of Justice. Basically since the purchase age was dropped in 1999 it has been a failed experiment. The Committee has a chance to reverse that today and I sincerely hope that it does. It has been particularly harmful to youth although young people are not the whole problem. I acknowledge that and I will talk to that issue later on in my speech. 
Research that shows how youth are being harmed and the effect it has had has been backed up by research from the national New Zealand Alcohol and Drug Use Survey which analysed the data and the surveys since 1995. There has been a statistically significant increase in binge-drinking patterns especially among youth and especially among young women. There has been an increase in alcohol-related traffic accidents although admittedly Safer Journeys is addressing that to a good degree. There has been an increase in hospitalisations with alcohol-use disorders alcohol poisoning and assaults. The recommendation was quite clear: increase the purchase age to 20 no excuses because we have a youth-drinking alcohol-related harm problem among young people and it continues to increase. 
The 20-20 option is supported by experts by addiction experts and by health experts. You go and ask your accident and emergency doctors—and I acknowledge what Phil Goff said. I absolutely support that. Professor Sir Peter Gluckman our Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor supports the 20-20 option. The Law Commission initially supported a split-age option but once it looked at the international evidence talked to experts in New Zealand and got the best data it went to a 20-20 option. The public support is overwhelmingly 20-20— 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: Overwhelming. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: Overwhelming. 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: Every electorate. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: In every electorate. I have surveyed people in Mt Roskill and it is 20-20. Everyone has got an opinion and my gosh it is overwhelmingly in favour of 20-20. 
Dr Cam Calder 
: Especially in Hunua. Big support in Hunua. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: Absolutely. The drinking age set as it currently is at age 18 means that the default age of drinking is lower—a couple of years lower and probably 16. All the health experts are absolutely adamant that the growing developing adolescent brain is vulnerable to alcohol and that is why an age of 20 is better than 18. There is no great science about it. Keep alcohol away from youth for as long as possible. It is a drug. It is a drug. It is a dangerous seductive drug. It alters the brain it impairs judgment it disinhibits and people make poor choices when they are drunk. 
 Alcohol has been used from time immemorial and that is why it is a legal drug. But if it was discovered for the first time in this century it would be banned or severely restricted. 
I agree that alcohol is not just a youth problem but we know that heavy youth drinkers become heavy older drinkers. That is why we have to turn it round at the youth stage because they become older drinkers. Although youth may think they are bulletproof and they can dodge health issues and not have an accident they will not dodge it when they get older. We know alcohol use is linked to cancers cardiovascular disease and stroke. Our health costs will increase and you taxpayers will have to pay for that. Yes I have heard the human rights issues that when you are 18 you can go to war you can vote and you can get married. But let us not forget that alcohol is a drug and it has been made equivalent to a class B drug in its effects like morphine or Ecstasy. I repeat if it was discovered for the first time this century it would be banned we would not be having it it would be restricted and we certainly would not have the laws that we have now governing it. 
The 20-20 option will not stop 18-year-olds drinking. Under adult supervision they will be able to do that so it is not banning drinking for 18-year-olds. Raising the purchase age is not going to be a silver bullet; we all acknowledge that. But this is part of a suite of changes where it will change the direction and change the culture. Raising the age will be a starting point and we have to start somewhere. We cannot go back to where we were and where we have gone. We must go forward and we have to increase the age. 
I want to acknowledge the public activism and the different campaigns. Part of that change will come with public activism. I acknowledge the FebFast campaigns which many of you in Parliament have taken part in. I would like to acknowledge the Hello Sunday Morning campaign in which high-profile New Zealanders took part where they pledged not to drink for 3 months. It was all about waking up on Sunday morning without a hangover clear in the mind getting a lot more work done and being more productive. Then there are the Dry July campaigns. There is a momentum out there and that is why the public support 20-20. To the constituent MPs: if you want to get voted in again vote 20-20.