Should it be an offence to be drunk/intoxicated in a public place?
by Talklaw Project Coordinator 9:54pm, 25 July 2009It is amongst our burgeoning 'night time economy' where the trouble begins.....
The early hours of Saturday morning a Police officer is playing 'nursemaid' and 'taxi driver' to an intoxicated young woman who has either been assaulted or is just grossly intoxicated...it's hard to tell.
On 21,263 occasions in 2007/2008, Police officers either placed a drunk person in custody or drove them home (under the provisions of the Policing Act 2008).
Imagine opening up shop on a Sunday morning to face piles of vomit, blood and urine at your front door. This is the reality for many businesses in the Central Business Districts of our main cities, every weekend.
To make it an offence to be intoxicated in a public place may help to prevent disorder, reduce anti-social behaviour and make individuals take responsibility for their own behaviour.
What type of offence? The Law Commission prefers to introduce an infringement offence - an on-the-spot fine which does not attract a criminal conviction and may not lead to an arrest.
Did you know? Until 1981, it was a summary offence (offender must be tried by a jury) to be drunk in a public place.
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Lisa T Comment 1
3:59pm, 31 July 2009
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If someone's drunk but with other people and not causing any harm to themself or anyone else, that's not a problem. If they're causing trouble of any kind - aggro or just annoying behaviour, damage to property, puking in the street, or obstructing the footpath - eg., lying on it - police should definitely have the power to get rid of them. No one should have the right to make their total lack of responsibility for themselves everyone elses problem to literally clean up.
If someone's really drunk, not causing trouble but alone, they should be taken off the street for their own protection.
yogawood Comment 1.1
2:15pm, 7 October 2009
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Lisa I disagree entirely. Being drunk is a state of overdose, that puts a person at risk of injury, cancer and addiction. As a taxpayer, I should not have to foot the bill for this, and this is exactly what is happening. I believe people in a state of overdose should not be allowed on the street, as the risk of violence or harm is too great.
runner Comment 1.1.1
11:57am, 17 October 2009
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Yogawood: Please be specific on what you mean by the terms "drunk" and "overdose". Being drunk in my opinion means being obviously impaired by alcohol yet may not necessarily mean harm will be caused by the individual. An "overdose" of alcohol is where you have consumed enough alcohol to put you in a state where your body becomes inhibited, the same effect as a drug overdose. This is harmful. About 99% of the time when a person consumes alcohol in any session they will not enter this state.
I fully agree with Lisa's statement that if "drunk" people are not misbehaving and have companions to look after them, they pose no problem and should be left be. However if they eventually manage to get themselves into state of "overdose" then police should definitely consider ensuring their welfare and if necessary, reprimand them for it.
runner Comment 2
6:04am, 7 August 2009
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When I was twenty I got really intoxicated one night and woke up in a police detox cell. I was detained until I was deemed well enough to walk out. I was expecting a fine or something but got away scot free.
Incidents like this are obviously a drain on police resources having to deal with people who mess themselves up and need to have someone to clean up their mess. This is necessary as intoxicated people have died of alcohol poisoning or hypothermia by being left unsupervised in a comatose state.
So yes, I think it should treated as a minor offence. Anyone who has to be detained in a detox cell should receive a fine.
Quarter Comment 2.1
8:20am, 9 August 2009
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If someone is intoxicated at a bar/pub, they will be refused service, and most probably be told 'we want you here, but at the moment your too intoxicated for us to serve you, so please go home and sober up. You can then come back tomorrow, and we'll serve you then'...or something along those lines. They are then released onto the streets, and from the responsibility* of the bar/pub. It is then often the job of friends/taxi drivers/police/parents, to make sure they get to their beds without drowning in a pool of their own vomit. I think it should be illegal to be seriously intoxicated in public. Often people walk out of their houses this way. No body should have to put up with these people in public places. I've travelled a fair bit, and seen heroin junkies on the streets of some cities - it doesn't leave you with a good impression of that place. Is this the impression we want to leave visiting tourists of NZ? Do we want to be known as a country of drunkards? I'm positive it isn't the clean green image that they came for.
My opinion is; sure, drinking can be fun - but if you can't control yourself (or bodily functions) whilst under the influence, stay at home, or face a night at the cells at your cost.
Cannabis is illegal - yet many of us know that NZ has the most users per capita in the world. You don't see stoned people peeing on walls or vomiting in doorways. You don't wake up for a Sunday bikeride to have your tyres punctured by broken glass bongs that have been smashed the night before - so why should we put up with this from alcohol users...because its 'legal'? Ridiculous.
*I'm pretty sure that if an intoxicated person is picked up outside a bar, and says they have just been drinking at the bar; the bar can be held liable for serving an intoxicated person.
skepties Comment 3
7:59pm, 9 August 2009
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Being drunk in public should not attract any punishment. There already is a charge for disorderly behaviour and all the drunken scenarios that are mentioned by the Law Commission and other commentators already fall into this category.
As for people who have passed out and wake up in the cells sober, if they have not done anything illegal the police cannot arrest them but they can be detained for their own safety. This is a possible ground to introduce an infringement offence.
The intervention of the criminal law requires some behaviour worthy of some form of apprehension. I think excess intoxication such as being passed out on the street warrants such intervention but not for simply being drunk in public.
The vast majority of people in NZ have enough self-control whilst intoxicated as to prevent the necessity to impose a criminal sanction on them.
Do not let the actions of a very small minority have an adverse effect on the actions of the vast majority.
Any such introduction of any type of criminal offence requires the Government and in this case the Law Commission to have a long hard think of the possible ramifications and consequences of enacting such legislation. This is not only because the public do not want to be convicted of an action that is unworthy of such apprehension but because the public do not want to be bought in front of the courts and later acquitted because it is a waste of our time, the courts time and public resources.
Tread very carefully in creating such an offence, the consequences of which can vary greatly
Sauniere Comment 3.1
12:13am, 28 August 2009
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This would be penalising illness or depression in some cases, and would drive domestic violence inside and more underground. Record offenders and if it happens regularly refer for help.
zero Comment 4
1:25pm, 31 August 2009
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It should be an offence to be intoxicated in a public place.To make this an offence is to acknowledge that you have a responsibility to your community that is greater than your right to become intoxicated.
HCR Comment 4.1
7:28pm, 17 September 2009
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It is a tricky issue. It seems open to abuse eg: if a person who has "had a few" was walking to a taxi stand from a pub, can they then be charged? It would have to be a very very tight piece of legislation and i wouldn't envy the drafters.
Also, the issue of drinking in public seems to get drawn into this issue. We should be able to sit on the beach with our fish n chips and have a glass of wine with friends and family and it is wrong that the current by-laws already restrict this! Why should the minority who sit on the beach too long and get drunk ruin it for the rest....??
It is all about our attitude to drinking and that begins at home.
runner Comment 4.1.1
10:54pm, 19 September 2009
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I believe an infringement for being intoxicated in public should be warranted for the following situations:
1) Detained in police detox due to excess drinking
2) Hospital admission due to excess drinking
There might be other reasons, but these are the obvious two scenarios
muerknz Comment 4.1.2
3:59pm, 14 October 2009
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I don't have an issue with drinking in public, a glass of wine with fish and chips on the beach is great. But I think public drunkenness needs to be made an offence. No one needs to drink to such an extent that they can't walk to a taxi stand without drawing the attention of the police.
Public drunkenness causes harm, not only for those who are intoxicated and unable to make rational judgements, but also for police and emergency services and the local community and business who have to clean up whatever bodily fluids and property damage occurs when things go wrong.
muerknz Comment 5
3:52pm, 14 October 2009
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I think it should be an offence to be intoxicated in a public place because of the harm that being drunk causes, not merely to the person who is drunk, but also on the community that has to clean up the mess afterwards, eg. vomit, urine.
Police should be able to issue an on the spot fine and demand that the person leave the public area immediately.
