Dangerous drinking trends emerges in Alice Springs after alcohol bans

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Alice Springs community leaders are concerned hand sanitiser is becoming the 'drink of choice' for many in the community who are choosing it as a cheap source of alcohol.

Transcript

00:00Every morning Rex Neindorf combs the lawn out the front of his business for plastic bottles.

00:07But among the juice and soft drink, there's something much more sinister.

00:11They'll get like a two litre bottle of orange juice or coke and then they pour the hand sanitiser into that

00:19and then they shake it and then they just drink it.

00:22Community leaders like Rex fear locals are turning to hand sanitiser for a quick fix

00:28with some even choosing it over alcohol.

00:31It's quick, it's effective, it's cheap and it's easy to have access to it.

00:37They say this disturbing trend started during the COVID pandemic.

00:41It just catapults you more quickly into a state where you're incoherent and unreasonable.

00:45So it's just a more dangerous form of alcohol.

00:48It's a growing issue that has serious consequences.

00:52It leads to greater violence but it also leads to bigger health concerns, more renal, more hospital admissions.

01:02In Alice Springs shops, items like deodorant, glue and even vanilla essence can be placed under lock and key.

01:09Late last year, the NT Police Commissioner called for similar regulations around hand sanitiser.

01:15But the NT government says that's not the answer.

01:19What we have to do is address the root causes of why this is occurring.

01:23It's a perspective shared by some in Alice Springs.

01:26We're not really addressing the issue.

01:28If they've got an addiction to something, then you treat that addiction.

01:31But others are urging the NT Chief Health Officer to place hand sanitiser on the list of prescribed substances

01:38so it can be monitored and safely stored.

01:41There's a response that could happen tomorrow but it just never happens.

01:49For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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