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A general population sample of 5126 New Zealanders aged 15-45 in two regions was surveyed to determine their use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Self-reported problems were recorded on identical scales for alcohol and marijuana in order to make a direct comparison between alcohol and marijuana-related problems. The results suggest that alcohol-related problems were more common than marijuana-related ones in the general population, reflecting the fact that alcohol use was more widespread. Within the 17% of the sample who had used both alcohol and marijuana in the last 12 months more problems were reported from alcohol, once again reflecting differences in amounts consumed. Among heavier users of marijuana both alcohol and marijuana-related problems were more commonly reported than in the general sample. Problems were reported at similar levels for both drugs and the pattern of problems is somewhat similar.

This study investigated the influence of the situational characteristics of the drinking setting and a number of parental, personal and demographic variables on adolescents' alcohol use. The sample were 15-year-old participants in a multidisciplinary longitudinal study carried out in New Zealand. Measures of alcohol consumption were self reported amount of alcohol consumed on the most recent drinking occasion and amount usually consumed. All of the situational variables investigated had an effect on the amount of alcohol consumed on the most recent occasion. Greater amounts of alcohol were consumed if the alcohol was obtained from peers or by the 15-year-olds themselves, if the drink was consumed away from their own home, in the presence of peers only, and during the evening. More money to spend each week and lower SES were also associated with reports of greater alcohol consumption on the most recent drinking occasion. Adolescents with female friends who approved of drinking reported greater amounts of alcohol, the effect of female friends was most marked in the lower amounts reported by males who had female friends that disapproved of drinking. For amount of alcohol usually consumed, reports of larger amounts of alcohol were associated with more money available to spend each week and with lower SES. Furthermore, both males and females reported greater usual amounts if their male friends approved of drinking; female friends' approval was associated with greater amounts of alcohol usually being consumed, this effect was strongest for males. Sixty-eight per cent of the 15-year-olds indicated that they thought they definitely or probably would get drunk in the future.

A longitudinal study assessed the use of alcohol and related measures among New Zealand children aged 9, 11, 13 and 15 years. The proportion of children who were abstainers was at a similar level to the adult population by age 15 years. Those remaining abstainers were more likely to have infrequently drinking parents and to have been warned of the bad effects of alcohol by their parents. In terms of amount consumed and frequency of drinking, there was an increase with age and a marked increase between the ages of 13 and 15 years. Frequency of drinking was positively associated with the frequency of drinking by the mother and father. Girls drank less than boys until the age of 15 years, when they drank slightly more and a difference in terms of socio-economic status (SES) emerged at age 15 years with lower SES groups drinking more.

A survey of a random sample of 302 New Zealand boys aged 9-14 years investigated responses to two recent television advertisements featuring alcohol companies. Alcohol product advertising is not allowed on New Zealand television but a corporate advertisement which was allowed was perceived by most of the children to be advertising beer and to be encouraging drinking. A corporate sports sponsorship advertisement had lower association with alcohol, which may have been because of children's limited understanding of the concept of sponsorship. Most of the children remembered both advertisements and many expected their peers to take notice of them. There was strong support for both advertisements being broadcast on television. Overall, the survey suggested that this television advertising was creating strong positive associations between the companies' products and significant cultural and emotional elements, thus contributing to a climate that was not supportive of alcohol education.

An evaluated community action project carried out in New Zealand provincial cities used a quasi-experimental design which compared cities exposed to a mass media campaign, with and without community development, against reference cities. A major focus of the project was on alcohol policies, particularly alcohol advertising and availability. This emphasis is in keeping with an increased recognition that the appropriate role of alcohol education is to create a climate in which policies likely to shape appropriate drinking behaviours are accepted by the community. A range of complementary quantitative and qualitative evaluation techniques documented the community programme and indicated success in influencing the attitudes of the population.

Concern has often been expressed that alcohol taxes bear more heavily on the poor than on the rich, especially if these taxes are based on quantity rather than price. However, surprisingly little is known about how the tax burden is distributed across different income groups. Utilizing survey data from 3010 respondents in New Zealand, this study calculates exactly how much alcohol tax was paid by respondents in different income groups and in different types of households. These results were applied to household expenditure survey data to estimate the incidence of alcohol taxes across different households. The results suggest that, although in dollar terms the wealthiest households paid about four times as much alcohol tax as the poorest households, when expressed as a percentage of income, alcohol taxes are distributed proportionally across the lower income brackets but decline towards the upper end of the income scale. These taxes accounted for less than 1% of household income for all income groups. Households with children generally paid less alcohol tax than households without children. It is concluded that alcohol taxes in New Zealand do not seriously conflict with the broader equity objectives of government policy.