Drinking in NZ

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#1979755 19-Mar-2018 11:50

networkn:

This is where education should be focused. Drinking (if you want to) for the "right" reasons.

You'd hope that an educated decision could be made based on good science

Reading this makes me wonder if people (including in this case a US government agency) want good science:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/health/nih-alcohol-study-liquor-industry.html

Federal Agency Courted Alcohol
Industry to Fund Study on
Benefits of Moderate Drinking

Scientists and National Institute of Health officials waged a concerted campaign to obtain funding
from the alcohol industry for research that may enshrine alcohol as a part of a healthy diet.

...

It was going to be a study that could change the American diet, a huge clinical trial that might well deliver all the medical evidence needed to recommend a daily alcoholic drink as part of a healthy lifestyle.

That was how two prominent scientists and a senior federal health official pitched the project during a presentation at the luxurious Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2014. And the audience members who were being asked to help pay for the $100 million study seemed receptive: They were all liquor company executives.

The 10-year government trial is now underway, and Anheuser Busch InBev, Heineken and other alcohol companies are picking up most of the tab, through donations to a private foundation that raises money for the National Institutes of Health.

MikeAqua

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#1979757 19-Mar-2018 11:51

Geektastic:

Similar. I now drink - mostly - alcohol free beer.

Have you found one that taste like a proper beer?

I've found a couple that are reminiscent of beer, but that's about all.

I'm normally drinking around the 3.5% mark as I haven't found anything below that with full flavour.

The other option for me is an antigen - which is a G&T without the gin.

Mike

tdgeek

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#1979760 19-Mar-2018 12:00

MikeAqua:

Geektastic:

Similar. I now drink - mostly - alcohol free beer.

Have you found one that taste like a proper beer?

I've found a couple that are reminiscent of beer, but that's about all.

I'm normally drinking around the 3.5% mark as I haven't found anything below that with full flavour.

The other option for me is an antigen - which is a G&T without the gin.

When I went to rural Nth QLD to see my ill Dad, they all drunk Great Northern. I forget the % I think it was 3.5%. To buy a "normal" beer, as in 5% I had to ask for a Great Northern Heavy. I felt weird asking for that. Like I was asking for the abnormal

Senecio

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#1979765 19-Mar-2018 12:04

I'm not a big drinker, but even I'm starting to ask myself if I drink too frequently or too much. Not because I have a problem its just that as I approach my mid 40's my body just doesn't process alcohol like it used to. A few quiet glasses of wine with my wife over a Saturday afternoon BBQ leaves me feeling tired, often falling asleep on the couch at 8pm and as result I have an interrupted night's sleep leading to a lethargic Sunday. Then I feel like I've lost half my weekend and its back to work on Monday.

I've contemplated giving it up altogether and have gone months at a time without any drink. But I miss the relaxing aspect of sharing a drink with my wife on the back patio with some music playing. Its a way of unwinding and I haven't yet found anything to replace that so I keep coming back. I'd be interested to hear from others who have given it up and what you did to unwind without alcohol.

xpd

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#1979766 19-Mar-2018 12:09

networkn:

xpd:

I didn't drink until I found out my first girlfriend had been cheating on me. So umm.... yay ? :)

Please don't take this is as criticism of you personally.

Having said that, I believe this is one of the fastest ways to head to problem drinking. Drinking to temporarily relieve some real or imagined pain, or to escape a reality you don't like or as a coping/crutch mechanism.

This is where education should be focused. Drinking (if you want to) for the "right" reasons.

Yup, I only did it for a short while (didnt get drunk, just always had a few when at home throughout the day).

Its only a temp "fix", and anyone who keeps doing it as a "fix" needs to go see someone ASAP (as I did) to help get through whatever the founding reason is.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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xpd

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#1979767 19-Mar-2018 12:12

Senecio:

I've contemplated giving it up altogether and have gone months at a time without any drink. But I miss the relaxing aspect of sharing a drink with my wife on the back patio with some music playing. Its a way of unwinding and I haven't yet found anything to replace that so I keep coming back. I'd be interested to hear from others who have given it up and what you did to unwind without alcohol.

I voluntarily went "dry" for about 6 months a few years back, wasnt hard to do, and instead of drinking, Id just watch everyone else makes arses of themselves. ;) I found it amusing and finding you could still have a good time without booze was even better. So why do I drink then ? Because of the feeling of "release" I guess, lose the inhibitions that you have when sober, don't care about what people think at the time etc.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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DaveB

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#1979780 19-Mar-2018 12:37

I was in hindsight quite fortunate in that I started drinking when I was 15. In those days we would pop into the pub for lunch. It taught me to have a drink and stay under the radar, which I do to this day 45b years later!

Oh well, time for lunch.

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

E3xtc

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Ultimate Geek

#1979832 19-Mar-2018 13:09

I was a reasonably heavy drinker in my teens/twenties, however have pulled back to drinking a small amount (maybe 3 drinks a week or fortnight - usually all on the same night rather than spread out). My wife no longer drinks (likewise from a reasonably heavy drinking session from in our early years).

I too (like others have mentioned here) have always supported/adopted the whole "zero tolerance" thing and if I am driving, will not drink anything.

Also like others have mentioned, I enjoy having a "few quiets" at home and relaxing along with it (not nailing back 6 shots and half a bottle of vodka). But this is a fine balance that I have become quite a-tune too with the advent of having kids - there is nothing like a hangover and having to "parent" the following day. Do it once, and never again.

Also something else that encourages me to not drink excessively, is that my hobbies are generally focused around exercise/sports; sweating out alcohol the following day is like trying to pass razor blades through your pours...something I would very much try and avoid.

But yes I think the consequences should be brutal for anyone being caught or attempted to violate the whole drink driving. For me they are not dire enough to change habits/approach. People need consequences; yup, if that means taking away a families sole car (ideally taking it away, and selling it, if it can't be sold then crush/scrap it), that should be the consequence. And that person that lost it should feel the damnation from their family/employer/etc. Any consequence is minimal in comparison to that which the drunk driver potentially could be inflicting on other people impacted by their actions (eg in the event of a severe incident).

lagbort

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#1979867 19-Mar-2018 14:00

My family has always been very light drinkers, maybe 1 beer with dinner a couple of times a week.

I got quite a shock since my girlfriend moved in to a flat at her brothers place, being there on a normal evening when everyone comes home and immediately opens a box of beers/ciders and will quite happily polish off 4-6 bottles each before dinner. Then they spend the rest of the evening stuck at home because (thankfully) they wont drive anywhere.

These same people are the ones who complain that they have no money in the days leading up to payday and I just look back on all the booze bought over the last couple of weeks.

I am no puritan, I will have the occasional drink but surely this isn't healthy when then default beverage is alcohol, when people genuinely complain when alcohol is not available, it takes me a couple of months to finish a box of ciders (can't stand beer) but it seems to me that a lot of people would see that as only enough to start the night.

tdgeek

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#1979875 19-Mar-2018 14:13

lagbort:

My family has always been very light drinkers, maybe 1 beer with dinner a couple of times a week.

I got quite a shock since my girlfriend moved in to a flat at her brothers place, being there on a normal evening when everyone comes home and immediately opens a box of beers/ciders and will quite happily polish off 4-6 bottles each before dinner. Then they spend the rest of the evening stuck at home because (thankfully) they wont drive anywhere.

These same people are the ones who complain that they have no money in the days leading up to payday and I just look back on all the booze bought over the last couple of weeks.

I am no puritan, I will have the occasional drink but surely this isn't healthy when then default beverage is alcohol, when people genuinely complain when alcohol is not available, it takes me a couple of months to finish a box of ciders (can't stand beer) but it seems to me that a lot of people would see that as only enough to start the night.

To be fair, they made a free choice. It could be dope, restaurant meals, movies etc etc and etc that used up their money. A box of beer is about $25, thats a cheap night's fun with friends IMO

Geektastic

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#1979889 19-Mar-2018 14:38

MikeAqua:

Geektastic:

Similar. I now drink - mostly - alcohol free beer.

Have you found one that taste like a proper beer?

I've found a couple that are reminiscent of beer, but that's about all.

I'm normally drinking around the 3.5% mark as I haven't found anything below that with full flavour.

The other option for me is an antigen - which is a G&T without the gin.

If it's very cold, Clausthaler from Germany is passable (Bitburger Drive not so much).

At home I drink mostly fizzy water from the Soda Stream to be honest.

Standard non-drinker's drink in English pubs is usually a pint of Orange Juice & Lemonade. Very nice drink but buckets of sugar.

My wife has started shifting to the 'light' wines (which at 9.5% or so are not THAT light!).

MikeAqua

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#1979896 19-Mar-2018 14:56

Geektastic:

If it's very cold, Clausthaler from Germany is passable (Bitburger Drive not so much).

Clausthaler I would put in the category of sex in a canoe i.e. ing close to water ...

Most low/no alcohol beers seem to be pilsners or lagers.

If I'm drinking beer I would normally choose an IPA/APA or darker. Ideally I would drink an American Brown Ale, but there aren't many around.

Mike

Senecio

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#1979913 19-Mar-2018 15:11

xpd:

Senecio:

I've contemplated giving it up altogether and have gone months at a time without any drink. But I miss the relaxing aspect of sharing a drink with my wife on the back patio with some music playing. Its a way of unwinding and I haven't yet found anything to replace that so I keep coming back. I'd be interested to hear from others who have given it up and what you did to unwind without alcohol.

I voluntarily went "dry" for about 6 months a few years back, wasnt hard to do, and instead of drinking, Id just watch everyone else makes arses of themselves. ;) I found it amusing and finding you could still have a good time without booze was even better. So why do I drink then ? Because of the feeling of "release" I guess, lose the inhibitions that you have when sober, don't care about what people think at the time etc.

Every time I've gone dry, I've also found it quite easy. Admittedly only ever for 1 to 2 months at a time. And I really enjoyed what I could do without alcohol. Its just after time I migrate back to having the odd one and then eventually fall back into the old rhythm. Also, for my wife and I, we don't have any kids so we don't have to do the parenting thing. I think it would be very different if we had little ones that relied on us to be sober.

MikeAqua

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#1979921 19-Mar-2018 15:20

Senecio:

I think it would be very different if we had little ones that relied on us to be sober.

baby sitter

Mike

Rikkitic

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#1979983 19-Mar-2018 16:45

I drink a fair bit, usually a few glasses of wine at home in the evening. I don't drink every night, but more than once a week. I never get drunk. I never drink and drive. If I'm going to drive, I won't have even a single drink. I find that easier than trying to figure out how much is too much. When I want to go out, but not drink alcohol, I often have tonic, which I also find satisfying. It wasn't always this way. I did plenty of foolish things when I was young, but some of us do learn from experience.

Europeans do seem better at managing alcohol, though I have read some things that suggest there may also be problems there, just better hidden. But the only falling down drunks I ever witnessed in Amsterdam were from Scandinavia and the provinces. Public drunkenness is rare, or at least it was in my time.

At the time I applauded the decision to lower the drinking age on the principle that State nannies are a bad idea. Since then I have regrettably come to the conclusion that it was a mistake. Young kiwis just cannot hold their liquor. I don't know why. I don't have an answer, other than just maturity. I don't know why people think that getting pissed to the point of humiliation is funny or cool. I don't know how to fix this. I think it is too late to put the drinking age back up. That idea was considered, then rejected. I can think of only one possible thing that might help a little: Create drunk tanks in every city and town. Not jail cells, but secure facilities with basic amenities. Anyone of any age (other than a child) who is deemed by a police officer to be incapacitated by alcohol goes into the tank for a week, no excuses, no exceptions. After a week the person is released. No criminal record or involved bureaucratic process, just a week in the tank and then free again. I think something like this would very quickly make young people think long and hard about their weekend intentions.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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