I blame the feral response to National’s announcement – that they will not be dropping the legal blood alcohol limit to 0.05 g% – squarely on the media. I am certain that it is the media’s propensity always to give the maximum amount of airtime and newsprint to the most hysterical over-reaction that encourages people [...]

David Farrar appears to have scooped the newspapers with a leaked version of The Law Commission proposals on alcohol. The Stuff version is here. David’s summary runs: A massive 50% increase in the excise tax on alcohol. This would result in an extra $500 million of revenue to the Crown at the expense of everyone who drinks. Banning [...]

Once more the media appear to be wading in to the campaign to lower the legal driving limit for blood alcohol to 0.05%. Strangely, they quote the recent spate of road traffic fatalities as if this somehow bolsters their argument. This is simply lazy journalism. There is plenty of evidence that lowering the legal Blood [...]

Looks like the government is set to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.08 to 0.05 for driving. I have blogged quite extensively about this already so I am not going to add much more. It is not a matter of great note, but the lawyers who are saying that it is the law-abiding [...]

There is a fair amount of news about drug addiction at the moment, with John Key announcing a (somewhat laughable) $7 million boost for P treatment. Garth George, in one of his best columns for some time, points out that the real killer in terms of drug addictions is, of course, alcohol. He laments the [...]

Sometimes you just shake you head in wonder at the complete pointlessness of some research… There is a prime example in the Herald today which declares Heavy drinking can cut risk of heart disease, says study. Drinking a bottle of wine a day, or half a dozen beers, cuts the risk of heart disease by [...]

Apparently the number of drink-driving offenses has increased by 50% over the past five years. Although the police cite increased enforcement for the horrifying increase in numbers, I don’t believe this is entirely true. In 2003,  262 people were killed in road accidents. 191 (73%) were tested for alcohol and 59 (31% of those tested, [...]

Graham Thomas, the high-ranking police officer who, after being observed driving home erratically, refused a breath test at his home, has been stood down from the position of national manager of the police prosecution service. Thomas, it should be pointed out was completely within his rights to refuse a breath test. The police who arrived [...]

Not matter how boring the news is on Saturday, I can usually rely on Matt McCarten to provide me with material to contradict. True to form Mr. McCarten obliges with a diatribe on how deaths from smoking can all be put down to the evils of capitalism. Thanks, Matt, knew I could count on you. [...]

Here’s a piece of research that will make the Food and Drink Nazis happy. A recent British study using a cohort of a million women found that even a small amount of alcohol can increase your chances of getting cancer. Apparently the wierdos at the World Health Organisation have classified alcohol as a class 1 [...]