Breweries call for tougher drinking rules

[BREWERIES = 2 OF 51 BREWERIES IN NZ] [WHERE IS THE VOICE OF THE OTHER 49 BREWERIES?]

Beer companies want teenagers banned from drinking in public places and barred from driving with any alcohol in their blood - but they want to keep the right to sell them alcohol.

Lion and DB Breweries presented their agenda to a parliamentary committee yesterday. It included:

* A ban on under-20-year-olds drinking in public places.

* Cutting the allowable blood alcohol level for drivers under 20 to zero.

* Tighter restrictions on new liquor licences, which have more than doubled in the past few years.

* Tougher penalties for liquor outlets which breach their licence conditions.

[LOBBYING TO PROTECT TV ADVERTISING?]

Mr Campbell said 70 per cent of young people got their alcohol from family and friends rather than buying it at liquor outlets, where the law prevented publicans from selling to people who were under 18 or intoxicated.

[MAKE THE PARENTS RESPONSIBLE, DON'T PENALIZE THE RESPONSIBLE MAJORITY]

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