The introduction of random tests for drink-driving, coupled with an aggressive media campaign highlighting the risks of being caught and prosecuted, had led to a halving of accidents involving drink-driving in New Zealand, a conference on alcohol consumption in Cork was told yesterday.
Dr Mike MacAvoy, chief executive of the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) of New Zealand, said that the twin campaigns had had a dramatic effect, cutting accidents related to drinking and driving by 50 per cent since 2000.
He told the third Alcohol and Society Conference, organised by Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS), that alcohol consumption per capita in New Zealand had dropped by 25 per cent since the 1990s.
However, the indices of harm resulting from drinking - with the exception of drink-driving and dependency - had not declined and ALAC was now focusing on a programme to try to get people to change their drinking habits rather than stop drinking altogether.
Dr MacAvoy said that in New Zealand 88 per cent of men and 83 per cent of women were drinkers. However, the problem was not their overall consumption per capita, but the fact that they tended to binge-drink.
ALAC's aim was to effect a change in drinking habits. This involved controlling the supply of alcohol, reducing demand for it and limiting the scale of the problem. Among the successes in terms of controlling the supply of alcohol was a recently-introduced initiative aimed at establishments selling drink to minors.
New Zealand had introduced legislative change to allow "random control purchase operations" in which minors, under police supervision, would try to buy alcohol in a pub or off-licence.
If a publican sold drink to the minor, a prosecution followed, and a stiff penalty was imposed.
Among the demand-reduction strategies which had been introduced was one in Auckland in which the most popular local radio station had been enlisted to help with a promotion highlighting "how cool it is not to get wasted".
"After three years, we are beginning to see a real change - 50 per cent of the listening group are drinking on 50 per cent fewer occasions than they did before the campaign. And, when they are drinking, they are now drinking about 25 per cent less," Dr MacAvoy said.
He emphasised that ALAC played down the link with the government in its campaigns and he believed that, for any similar type campaign to have any success with young people in Ireland, it would have to similarly avoid any "preachy tone".