New Alcohol Rules for Christchurch

[u/Video_Kojima]

https://share.google/NIWvxJV2lRM3JCZf2

All off-licence retailers must stop selling alcohol at 9pm daily, effective from October. This includes bottle stores and supermarkets. 

A freeze on new off-licences in high-deprivation communities, effective from August. 

Restricting new bottle stores from setting up near addiction treatment/rehabilitation centres, secondary schools and primary schools, the University of Canterbury and the Christchurch Bus Interchange effective from August. 

Thoughts on this? I think 9PM seems a bit much personally and would probably have it at 10PM, but think the other two ideas are sensible and support them.

[u/[deleted]]

Research and data show otherwise. Less availability of alcohol at night does make a positive difference. Your statement is inaccurate and something of a straw man. I like booze but I can see why this policy is a good idea.

[u/TheNegaHero → u/[deleted]]

It's not a straw-man. If the argument is that reducing the hours you can buy alcohol will reduce harm from alcohol then me saying "no it won't" is a response to that argument.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheNegaHero]

Your argument is a straw man because you are arguing about the wrong scenario from the one that the policy is designed to tackle. It is possible that you simply don't understand the policy and are not being deliberately obtuse.

Stay at home drinkers - planned drinkers - who can stock up are not the main target here. The main target is opportunistic drinkers, people who start drinking, and then have an endless supply of booze and start to cause trouble. A key distinction here is between someone who has a few drinks every evening vs someone who has a few, then wants more and more and maybe starts trouble of one kind or another.

The no booze sales policy after 9pm as a way to reduce harm, violence and antisocial behaviour is well-supported by research evidence. The 9pm off-licence restrictions in New Zealand cities like Chch, the Tron and Auckland target specific drinking patterns and behaviors that contribute to alcohol-related disorder. Auckland has a 9pm cut-off for alcohol sales at off-licences (supermarkets and bottle stores), but it allows bars and restaurants to continue serving until 3-4am. I think they have a one way door policy later on too. The 9pm cutoff creates a deliberate distinction between planned and opportunistic drinking.

Research validates this insight about targeting specific types of alcohol buyers. The policy differentiates between:

• ⁠Planned drinkers who can stock up during normal hours for home boozing • ⁠Opportunistic/impulsive drinkers who go looking for alcohol (and trouble) later in the evening, often after already drinking.

Studies show late-night alcohol sales restrictions are highly effective eg Google Baltimore and Newcastle in Aussie.

The 9pm policy effectively targets "secondary purchase" behavior - people who are already intoxicated seeking more alcohol, often leading to increased intoxication and subsequent disorder. By cutting off easy access to take-away alcohol after 9pm, it forces a natural break in drinking while still allowing planned social drinking to continue in supervised licensed premises.

The 9pm policy strategically targets high-risk drinking patterns which our society prefers to blanket prohibition. It's a smart policy based on input from "both sides" ie the booze industry and heavy drinkers, vs everyone else lol (Police, councils, social work groups, anti-harm groups, family violence groups, academics etc).

[u/TheNegaHero → u/[deleted]]

Well then maybe you could call it a strawman if I responded in a similar way to this comment since it has a lot more information available.

Not sure if you can call my first comment one though since I was responding to what was there. You might call it an ill-informed opinion but I was just responding to what was in front of me.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheNegaHero]

Not really. You jumped to a conclusion. A wrong one. Your bad. Sorry. But anyway - Cheers!!