Science Media Centre

Dan Satherley reports for 3 News on recent research showing that heavy drinkers are less likely to die than teetotallers. While the reasons for this are unclear, scientists posit that it could be that drinkers are more relaxed and social than their non-drinking counterparts. An excerpt: (read in full here) “Former heavy drinkers were excluded [...]

Sacked drug adviser tours NZ Professor David Nutt grabbed headlines in the UK last year when the chair of the British Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was sacked for his controversial views on recreational drugs and how they are classified. Professor Nutt, who has gone on to form the Independent Council on [...]

Prominent psychiatrist Professor David Nutt has been touring New Zealand giving lectures about his view that illegal drugs should be classified according to the harm they cause. Professor Nutt was sacked last year from his position as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), after publishing a paper claiming that alcohol [...]

Martin Johnston writes in the New Zealand Herald about the dangers of drinking too much alcohol, and why the urge to throw up after having drunk too much saves lives. A fatal overdose of alcohol is 400ml of alcohol, which translates to about 23 cans of beer, 4 bottles of wine or a litre of [...]

Helen Harvey writes in the Taranaki Daily News about a proposal being considered by government to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit for driving. New Zealand’s current limit of 80mg/100ml is higher than many other countries, and there is support for the view that reducing the limit would reduce the number of accident-related injuries and [...]

The Government is considering a proposal to drop the maximum legal blood alcohol limit for driving from 80 mg/l to 50 mg/l. New Zealand’s maximum limit is considered to be high, with many other countries having already adopted a 50 mg/l limit, or lower.  Yesterday, the SMC held a briefing on the subject, looking into [...]

The Government’s proposed plan to reduce the maximum blood alcohol limit for driving from 80 mg/l to 50 mg/l in a bid to improve safety has the backing of health experts. 80 mg/l is considered high by international standards, with many countries having a limit of 50 mg/l or lower. An excerpt: (read in full [...]

A reduction in the legal blood alcohol limit is one proposal in the Ministry of Transport’s Safer Journeys 10-year road safety strategy document released last month. New Zealand’s current limit of 80 mg/100 ml (or 0.08 BAC) is among the highest in the world — most countries besides the UK and USA have opted for [...]

John Gibb writes in the Otago Daily Times about a recent talk in Dunedin by Dr Ruth Napper about the effects of prenatal binge drinking on the development of a child. In addition to Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), which is defined by a strict set of parameters, researchers have also found a larger group of [...]

A new research paper published today in the journal Psychological Science, has looked at the effects of early exposure of drugs and alcohol in New Zealand adolescents. Many adolescents experiment with illicit drugs and alcohol; research has shown that exposure to illicit drugs and alcohol prior to the age of 15 statistically predicts substance disorders [...]