There are calls for a crackdown to make alcohol harder to buy from off licences after a study released on Tuesday shows New Zealanders are drinking harmful amounts in their homes.
The study is based on a 2011 survey of 2000 Kiwis. The research shows that ahead of last week's alert level changes, spending on alcohol increased by 195 percent and Auckland saw a massive 400 percent increase.
Alcohol Healthwatch executive director Dr Nicki Jackson says the study's results are prompting calls for a crackdown on liquor stores.
"They are open for too long and they sell the cheapest alcohol," she says.
The study's author Taisia Huckle believes that as a result of lockdown harmful drinking at home would be even worse now.
"In a time of lockdown we would expect to see that most, if not all, of the harmful drinking would be in homes," she says.
She says price will be another factor in most people drinking at home since it's more expensive to buy alcohol at a bar.
The Alcohol Beverages Council says price increases and reduced opening hours don't work because problem drinking is a behaviour issue.
While Tuesday's study focuses on drinking in the home, there is still excessive drinking in bars and clubs.
In Wellington, city councillor Fleur Fitzsimons fears a new wave of alcohol-fuelled harm is reaching breaking point.
"We are likely to see fatalities if we don't do better," she says.
