From England-
The Anglican Church has backed a number of strong measures to try to deal with binge drinking.
Three days after the death of King's College student James Webster in Auckland, following an apparent alcohol overdose, the church's general synod today backed calls for a rise in the price of alcohol, a rise in the legal drinking age and a cut in marketing.
The 16-year-old's death prompted calls to Prime Minister John Key, whose son attends King's College, to do more to stop young people drinking excessively, though Mr Key said raising the drinking age would not have saved the boy's life.
Meeting in Gisborne today, the Anglican General Synod invited Professor Doug Sellman from the National Addiction Centre to speak about binge drinking culture.
He put forward a number of solutions to deal with the issue: raising alcohol prices, raising the purchase age, reducing the accessibility to alcohol, reducing marketing and advertising, increasing drink-driving countermeasures and increasing treatment opportunities for heavy drinkers.
"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the way we regulate alcohol in society. It is a national crisis and way of life, and you have a role to address what science tells us what needs to be treated as a Class B drug," he said.
More here-
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/105528/anglican-church-backs-tough-drinking-measures
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