Meeting the Needs of the Alcohol Dependent: Different Models in Public Health Policy in England and New Zealand

Abstract

Alcohol policy is almost exclusively based in the delivery of messages that encourage individuals to drink ‘sensibly’. This implies that people, if given adequate information, are able to make choices about their alcohol consumption. In the case of people who are dependent on alcohol, however, their capacity to make autonomous decisions about their drinking behaviour is moot. This article compares the choice based policy that dominates in the United Kingdom, with the compulsory intervention model that has been developed in New Zealand. We conclude that each model is potentially problematic, but that policy that ignores the issue of dependence risks further marginalising an already needy group.