The 514-page Law Commission report has since fuelled debate on all sides about the nation's drinking. The Government is due to make its response public next month.
Justice Minister Simon Power has indicated the proliferation of liquor outlets and access to alcohol will be addressed, but has already dismissed one of the report's 153 recommendations - raising the excise tax.
Those charged with regulating and mopping up after alcohol misuse in Dunedin say substantial changes are needed, Ellie Constantine reports.
THE ALCOHOLIC
When he found himself homeless, opting to drink methylated spirits over wine or beer, and close to death, Luke Ashton knew it was time to put down the drink - for good.
The 35-year-old's drinking problems started when he was 18 and working in the oil-exploration industry in central Australia.
The price of a can of beer was 50c and "drinking was a given".
"There was nothing else to do out there but drink," he says.
But, after five years, work soon became boring and drinking was a "good excuse" to stop.
Luke met a woman and moved to New Zealand, but heavy drinking played a part in the relationship breaking down, leaving him with no family and no friends.
By that stage, he was drinking himself "to oblivion" on a daily basis.
Feelings of hopelessness led him to drink and being able to forget the feelings was the reward.
A 24-pack of beer was a "waste of time" because it would have no effect on him, so his drink of choice moved quickly to wine and then methylated spirits.
With a cask of wine costing about $17, and a bottle of meths $4, the maths, to him, was simple.
When he believed his drinking had become "ridiculously out of control", he entered a rehabilitation programme and managed to stay sober for one year before a stressful job threw him back into alcoholism.
A transient lifestyle followed, and by 2007 he was in Dunedin looking for a fresh start.
However, what he found was: "I can change the city, but I can't change myself".
He was often homeless, once spending two months living in bushes by the railway line.
His continued drinking resulted in frequent trips to hospital.
At one point he was there three times in one month. After cracking his skull and breaking bones in his face, he was also told he had had a stroke at some point.
A blood test showed his blood alcohol level was near fatal and all he could say to the nurse was, "I was just getting started".
He gave rehab another go that year, but "fell over straight away".
"I had not learnt the lessons they were trying to teach and went straight back to the drink."
Failing health from the effects of alcohol and a lack of prospects pushed him to try rehab for the third and final time.
"Nobody ever gave me a job because I was a good drinker. Nobody ever gave me a house because I was a good drinker. It ain't rocket science," he says.
The messages finally clicked with him and, after 12 years of drinking, he has now been sober for two and a-half years.
"It's not so much putting it down; it's changing your way of thinking.
"I don't think about it anymore. It's just something I know I can't do."
Having lived the life of an alcoholic and come out the other end, Luke believes some of society's drinking problems come down to accessibility and cost.
In Queensland, where he grew up, alcohol was not sold in supermarkets and off licences shut at 10pm on weeknights and 6pm on a Sunday.
By comparison, it was "so easy to get" here and could be cheaper to buy than soft drink.
"I'm not anti-drinking. If they can do it without it complicating their lives - good on them. I just think they could make it a bit more difficult to get."
THE SOCIAL WORKER
Having worked in the addiction services field for eight years, there is one thing Glen McLennan knows for sure - alcoholism can hit anyone.
There is no one group it targets. It has nothing to do with age, social status or race.
From the unemployed to chief executives, people from all walks of life move through the Salvation Army Dunedin Bridge programme he manages.
The eight-week programme has a new intake every fortnight, with about 60 new clients treated every year for alcohol and/or drug addictions.
Over the years, he has noticed more and more clients coming in and the waiting lists stretching further out.
"There is great concern about the culture we come from and how the availability of alcohol is creating real problems," he says.
He regards himself and those in similar roles as being "like ambulance drivers and police officers who pick up the bits".
"We see the damage that comes to individuals, families and children.
"It's very easy to be seen as wowsers or killjoys, but from where we sit, there is something really amiss happening and there needs to be change that makes the place safe."
Society has one attitude towards illegal drugs and another towards alcohol, yet Mr McLennan believes alcohol is "by far and away the most dangerous" substance available.
"I really support the idea that if ethyl alcohol were just discovered, they would be banning it as an available substance because it's so damaging."
Those who enter the programme view it as their only hope to stop such damage.
"It's not uncommon for people to say 'this is life or death for me'."
Large social measures need to be implemented which take the common good into account, Mr McLennan says.
He agrees with the Law Commission's findings and, in particular, wants the purchase age for alcohol to be raised to 20.
"It's really been shown that the lower the age, the lower the age of experimentation."
Proliferation of liquor outlets and hours of trade are another issue.
"Who really needs a drink at four in the morning?"
And while there are arguments for zero tolerance, he would like to see the blood alcohol level for drivers reduced from 80mcg to 50mcg.
However, he fears not much will change.
"I'm not sure the Government is really keen to do anything other than piecemeal things and it would be a terrible opportunity lost if they did not do it fully and substantially.
"Nothing is going to change, unless they take some of these recommendations on board, recommendations that have been shown to work elsewhere."
THE LICENSING OFFICER
In a city with a high tolerance of intoxication, the problem does not sit on the shoulders of the liquor industry, but in the community, Kevin Mechen says.
He has been the Dunedin City Council liquor licensing and projects officer for nine years; before that he was a policeman for 16 years and he believes the city's liquor industry is "pretty good" and is doing its best to comply with the law.
What is causing the problem in the city is a "very high tolerance for intoxication".
"We've got issues in Dunedin that are not as bad elsewhere. Dunedin communities seem to have a higher tolerance to the drunken behaviour."
The problem is not solely related to students either, but swept "across the board", he says.
As the majority of students live in a small area, it is easy to find them misbehaving, but any young person seen on the streets misbehaving is also instantly deemed to be a student, when in fact they could be a tradesman or an accountant.
"In my day, we went out to have a good time but now they go out deliberately to get drunk."
People in the community are not happy about the situation and want it to change, but are unwilling to speak out about it, Mr Mechen says.
"I think one of the biggest problems is that people in the community are not acknowledging the problem and are not looking at what is taking place in the community.
"It's not an individual problem, it's a community problem."
Law Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer wants to change the environment to allow communities a greater say on liquor policy in their area, Mr Mechen says.
"He is trying to make a better environment for people who are trying to make a difference."
Allowing communities to dictate policies will drive a change in drinking culture, he says.
The acceptance of alcohol abuse grows out of it being treated as an everyday commodity and the normalisation of being drunk.
Because it can be purchased in supermarkets, it has become thought of in the same way as fruit and vegetables.
When you walk into supermarkets, you are "confronted with stacks of alcohol".
"Young people are being brought up thinking that alcohol is no different to your weekly shop, so it's really difficult to convince them that alcohol is something special."
The answer is for supermarkets to have a separate area for alcohol and be more responsible with their pricing, Mr Mechen says.
It does not help when messages coming from a government department tell us it is OK to get drunk, he says.
"In the don't drink and drive ads, it's showing it's OK to get drunk, as long as you don't drive," Mr Mechen says.
One ad in particular that gets "right up my left nostril", he says, shows a man at a party, who has been drinking, going to his car to get a rugby ball.
It is only at that point that his friend intervenes, to make sure he does not drive home.
"There are parents getting drunk and kids are watching it happen. How can we break the cycle with ads like this?"
These secondary messages are entering homes on a daily basis, and need to change, he says.
By subtly changing the ads, alternatives to getting drunk could be shown.
Another advertisement, which shows a woman getting drunk in a bar, then flashes to her getting into a taxi and vomiting, could show her opting to have a glass of water over another drink, he says.
He agrees with all of the Law Commission's recommendations, and particularly believes changes to the purchase age would be positive.
"I think 18 is good for on-licences, but 19-20 for off-licenses would be a good move."
With the purchase age at 18, those of legal age often buy alcohol for younger friends. It is important to break that link by increasing the purchase age, he says.
THE COUNSELLOR
Young people are accepting increasingly heavier drinking as a part of growing up, and view intoxication as a prerequisite for fun and sociability.
Few know this better than Deb Fraser, who manages a counselling service that provides advice, assessment, counselling and referral to specialist services for people under 20.
The team of 12 counsellors at Whakaata Tohu Tohu/Mirror Youth Counselling Service help young people with a wide range of issues, including abuse of alcohol and other drugs.
An intensive day programme, which runs four times a year, is offered for those aged between 13 and 17 who have moderate to severe alcohol and drug issues.
In treating these young people, Ms Fraser has witnessed drinking behaviour in the young growing "steadily more extreme" and becoming normalised in younger age groups.
"In the past, it was rare to treat young people for alcohol and/or drug dependence, a condition that usually takes a number of years of heavy drinking to develop.
"These days, 15 and 16-year-olds are presenting regularly to youth addiction services, facing serious alcohol problems and needing intensive interventions like day programme services and residential rehabilitation."
Ms Fraser believes people across the community are not happy with the nation's drinking culture, but expects the Government will not want to push law reform too far so it does not affect "average citizens".
"I honestly don't think the Government is going to go far enough to address the Law Commission's recommendations on liquor law reform," she says.
Ideally, she would like to see the purchase age of alcohol raised to limit access by younger people and curb alcohol-related problems in the age group.
By raising liquor prices, people would also think twice about what they were buying and it would become less attractive and accessible to young people.
Other key changes would be to limit where alcohol is sold, the number of liquor outlets and the hours of sale and reduce advertising to an already overexposed community.
Alcohol and drug use affects average citizens as more than $4 billion a year is incurred in costs associated with alcohol and drug abuse, Ms Fraser says.
However, it is estimated only $52 million is spent on treatment, she says.
"It is a widespread issue and causes considerable damage to individuals and the community."
