A one-day conference was hosted in Wellington yesterday by Alcohol Action.
Eight keynote speakers looked at the impact of alcohol harm on the economy, and the question of who should pay for the harm that comes from excessive alcohol consumption?
Alcohol costs New Zealand around $5 billion annually in lost wages and medical costs. Alcohol excise rates range from 1.6cents per litre for beer, to 13.6 for spirits.
According to the Ministry of Health, one in five adults (20 per cent) drank alcohol in a way that could harm themselves or others in the past year.
Would you support a higher tax on alcohol to help pay for the harm it causes some people?
Vote in The AM Show poll below.
