Fix worse than the problem

A small majority of Wellington City Councillors want to ban alcohol off-licence sales after 9 pm to curb drunkenness, particularly among youth. Much of the debate I've heard has gone straight to the matter of whether this is fair on responsible drinkers. Of course it isn't. But the following editorial from today's DomPost puts the often overlooked question: will such an action actually solve the problem?

The eight Wellington city councillors who voted to ban off-licence alcohol sales after 9pm in the hope of curbing the harm from people guzzling booze before they hit the pubs have overlooked one very important point – their targets are not stupid.
The move will not stop the pre-loaders from getting a head start before they go out for the night. If anything, it is likely to see them start drinking excessively earlier in the evening, causing more problems than it will solve while penalising every responsible drinker from one end of the city to the other.

More