Perhaps a tax on booze to offset the damage to the economy or financial fines on the liquor companies should be looked at.
Booze-related hospital admissions in Canterbury are climbing at a cost of about $80 million a year, a new report says.
The New Zealand Medical Journal article published today reveals alcohol-related admissions increased 18.4 per cent in the country's hospitals between 2006 and 2011.
Alcohol-related admissions at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) rose from 16,220 patients a year to 19,180, with the estimated cost of treating about 6000 patients at $27.4m.
With Christchurch being home to one of the busiest emergency departments in Australasia - treating more than 83,000 patients each year - the total cost of alcohol admissions to CDHB was about $80m a year, the journal said.
Professor Doug Sellman, who is director of the National Addiction Centre, said it would be much more when considering long term alcohol-related diseases, since the estimated cost to the country was $4.4 billion.
"It's still a huge amount of money," he said.