A 13-year-old Wanaka boy was dicing with death when he consumed one litre of 35% proof spirits within 30 minutes last Saturday night, National Addiction Centre director and University of Otago psychiatrist Prof Doug Sellman, of Christchurch, says.
Of the 1000 alcohol-related deaths in New Zealand every year, 50 deaths - about one a week - are caused by alcohol poisoning, Prof Sellman estimates.
Rapid consumption - such as the 21st birthday yard glass or 21 shots - has caused deaths and it was not uncommon for children to similarly put themselves at risk, yet the alcohol industry did not seem willing to address it, he said yesterday.
Hospitality Association New Zealand (Hanz) chief executive Bruce Robertson yesterday denied the industry did not want to address youth drinking.
Hanz represents many of the country's alcohol retailers and has proposed a law change prohibiting all drinking under the age of 18, except where a parent supplies the alcohol.
It is making submissions on the Supply and Sale of Liquor Bill at Parliament next week.
"We have concerns about under-18 consumption of alcohol to excess, which is highlighted by this tragic incident," Mr Robertson said.
Prof Sellman said while most of his patients at his clinical youth psychiatry practice were aged between 13 and 18, he had treated children as young as 12 and was aware of even younger children who had taken risks with alcohol.
The risk of death from alcohol was significantly higher than from cannabis, but young people did not seem to know that and were influenced by campaigns showing drinking as attractive, he said.
Prof Sellman said drinking containers should carry warnings and there should be increased interventions for heavy drinkers.
He also advocates the World Health Organisation's five-step solution: increase price, increase purchase age, decrease accessibility, decrease marketing and advertising, and increase drink-driving surveillance.
Mr Robertson said Prof Sellman's approach was "feel-good" but would not solve the problem.
In the 13-year-old's case, the alcohol was allegedly stolen by other teenagers.
Under Hanz's proposed law, older teenagers would be charged with supply, Mr Robertson said.
It would also give parents more power to say no when children asked for alcohol, he said.
That pressure was a natural part of growing up and was not new, Mr Robertson said
Dangers of alcohol consumption
Effects of rapid alcohol consumption and alcohol poisoning:
• The brainstem is overwhelmed and the patient stops breathing. Brain damage or death can occur.
• The patient vomits, then inhales the vomit and contracts life-threatening respiratory pneumonia.
• The electrical mechanism of the heart is disrupted, causing a life-threatening arrhythmia.
How much is too much?
• Any more than one standard drink an hour has a toxic effect on the body.
• The body can metabolise only one standard drink in an hour.
• 1 litre (28 standard drinks) in half an hour is a lethal dose.
• Low-risk drinking is defined as two standard drinks a day, which carries a 1 in a 100 risk of dying from an alcohol-related problem.
