Young teens drinking themselves to death

FILE

FUN NOW, BUT TRAGIC ENDING? Since 2007 at least a dozen teens have died after binge drinking. Coroners feel a sense of futility about persuading young people to drink responsibly.

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The chief coroner is shocked and frustrated by the number of teenagers – some as young as 13 – drinking themselves to death.

Neil MacLean said this week that internal research done by his office showed at least a dozen teenagers, some of them barely out of childhood, had died from binge-drinking since July 1, 2007.

Years as a coroner meant the number was no great shock. "The surprise is how young they are. I struggle with the concept that 13-year-olds can have that access to alcohol at that age," Mr MacLean said.

A researcher had collated the figures last year for the Law Commission's review of alcohol laws.

However, he said he had revisited the statistics after the death of King's College pupil James Webster, who collapsed earlier this month after downing a bottle of straight vodka and not waking up.

Two more teenagers narrowly avoided tragedy last Friday after being treated for alcohol poisoning. They had been at a Mt Aspiring College function.

Gore police were shocked to find a 13-year-old "blind drunk" on the Southland town's main street earlier this month after doing vodka shots after school.

Southland Hospital A&E clinical nurse leader Sue Bamford said intoxicated teenagers were regulars to the department on Friday and Saturday nights.

"Instead of seeing 17 and 18-year-olds, we started seeing teenagers as young as 13 to 14."

Trying to turn the tide of teenagers dying from drinking was a challenging and possibly futile task and coroners around the country were "exasperated", Mr MacLean said.

"There's a strong sense of frustration coming through. Once again, we have the pattern of another young person who's just drunk themselves to death. The sense I get from coroners is: `What on earth can we do about this?"'

Apart from their youth and the manner in which they died, there were no over-riding social factors linking the teenagers' deaths.

"Sometimes they come from families and environments where there isn't adult supervision. But then you get surprised by ones [such as] the King's College boy – even people in the higher echelons of society are affected."

Coroners always made recommendations after inquests into binge-drinking deaths – "one that occurs is around some sort of warning labelling" – but Mr MacLean questioned their effectiveness.

"Often it's almost like King Canute, because you're talking about young people at a risk-taking age.

"Are they going to read labels? Are they going to read coroners' recommendations or listen to their parents?"

The Law Commission's report and suggestions for change – including labelling bottles and raising the drinking age back to 20 – faced the same dilemma.

"Personally I thought they were all soundly based recommendations, but it's the same as with the coroner's recommendations – you sort of wonder: `What's the point? Is anyone actually going to take any notice?"

Acting Senior Sergeant Steve Humphries, of Wellington, said police often felt a similar sense of futility.

"It seems that for every drunk or vulnerable young teenager we take off the streets, there's half a dozen ready to take their place."

- © Fairfax NZ News