Being drunk in public should be an offence again - Sir Geoffrey

Last updated 13:10 19/08/2009

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Being drunk in a public place should be made illegal and fines should be given to those caught, Law Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer told politicians today.

It was previously an offence and was removed because politicians believed they could introduce a "European sophisticated drinking culture", but that did not happen, Sir Geoffrey told Parliament's health select committee.

Instead binge-drinking was commonplace throughout New Zealand and was not just a youth problem, he said.

"It's not an offence to be drunk in a public place but nonetheless police have to deal with (drunk people), but they have nowhere to take them."

Being drunk in a public place should be an infringement offence that incurs a fine, Sir Geoffrey said.

The law could include drunk and disorderly behaviour or only being drunk and discretion be left to police on whether to charge someone or not.

New Zealand also needed detoxification centres where police could take people to sober up rather than leaving them in police cells or taking them home, Sir Geoffrey said.

Short and long term rehabilitation centres were also necessary for recidivist offenders.

The amount of police resources used policing the "late night culture" in New Zealand was "truly astonishing", he said.

"Unless you saw it you wouldn't believe it."

New Zealand's per capita alcohol consumption has risen 9 percent in the last 15 years and a "broad approach" was needed to tackle the problem, Sir Geoffrey said.

Many New Zealanders were not aware of the link between drinking alcohol and cancer, including breast and oral, liver disease, injury and sexual health, he said.

Education campaigns did not work in this area and other tools must be used including taxation, controlling supply and restrictions on public drinking.

The Law Commission was undertaking a review of alcohol in New Zealand and has released a discussion paper.

Its full report was due in March 2010.

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Sam #70 10:43 pm Aug 20 2009

I'm not too sure that the words "sophisticated" and "New Zealand" can properly be used in the same sentence, myself!

In another 200 years perhaps.

Ed #69 07:33 pm Aug 20 2009

ROFLMAO!!!

Sophistication? In New Zealand?! Hilarious.

Richard #68 06:49 pm Aug 20 2009

I agree this is a stupid idea. There are already laws in place to deal with disorderly behaviour, simply being 'drunk' makes no sense.

Daniel #67 02:34 pm Aug 20 2009

Being drunk and disorderly fully support laws against that. Just being drunk is another thing completely and yes it is a right. This isnt communist China(yet)

Tim #66 12:38 am Aug 20 2009

Hi there, To #1 Ron White is hilarious. To #2 its not just a few. There are many subclauses to the rule like "behaving drunkenly in an overbearing fashion". No sober person wants to talk to idiot drunks. I was a bouncer for a long time and I would love the power to pick out the few who can ruin a night for alot of people.

Brand new Slogan could be "Don't drink and be a egg!"

wojo #65 11:22 pm Aug 19 2009

Pretty shoddy comment Shoddy (and Ben). The issue is not whether you are drunk in a public place but whether you are drunk and cause problems for the State and community at large. So, the objective is to head people off from getting drunk and screwing themselves as well as the rest of us.

Obviously such a law could rarely be enforced in a private place and so making it an offence in a public place is the next best.

The ultimate step is prohibition, which Sir Geoffrey thinks is unworkable, although he has publicly stated that alcohol would be classified as a Class B drug if there was no cultural background around its use.

Peter #64 05:58 pm Aug 19 2009

I fully agree, BUT if this comes in, I predict major overload for the police resources.

There is a saying something like, once the genie is out, you will never get it back in.

A whole generation has grown up believing it is okay to be as drunk as you like in public, no way can you change that.

Just like smoking, politicians would like to ban that 100%, they only do it in nibbles, knowing a total ban will be totally ignored, if so, what do you do? lock them up? Put them in front of a judge? If so, Legal Aid will be bankrupted.

Allison #63 05:48 pm Aug 19 2009

Being drunk in public should be a punishable offence. It is an unessessary, demeaning condition,,upsetting to others, and can lead to further offences. And who do you think has to clean up after all the drunks?

Phillip #62 05:42 pm Aug 19 2009

"Shouldnt we try getting rid of P heads on the street and violent crimes? Or is this just talk to try shift what really needs to be done out there...we keep moving the subject around to wash away the lack of progress on what we are doing.....silly" If so much police time wasn't wasted on drunks then we might have the resources to tackle these problems.

Will #61 05:06 pm Aug 19 2009

You really have no idea do you. Many people go out and get drunk, it doesn't mean they cause trouble when they are on their way home. A small minority will theat is part of human nature, but why on earth punish everyone.

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