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Dangerous drinking trends emerges in Alice Springs after alcohol bans
ABC NEWS (Australia)
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1/16/2025
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.
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00:00
Every morning Rex Neindorf combs the lawn out the front of his business for plastic bottles.
00:07
But among the juice and soft drink, there's something much more sinister.
00:11
They'll get like a two litre bottle of orange juice or coke and then they pour the hand sanitiser into that
00:19
and then they shake it and then they just drink it.
00:22
Community leaders like Rex fear locals are turning to hand sanitiser for a quick fix
00:28
with some even choosing it over alcohol.
00:31
It's quick, it's effective, it's cheap and it's easy to have access to it.
00:37
They say this disturbing trend started during the COVID pandemic.
00:41
It just catapults you more quickly into a state where you're incoherent and unreasonable.
00:45
So it's just a more dangerous form of alcohol.
00:48
It's a growing issue that has serious consequences.
00:52
It leads to greater violence but it also leads to bigger health concerns, more renal, more hospital admissions.
01:02
In Alice Springs shops, items like deodorant, glue and even vanilla essence can be placed under lock and key.
01:09
Late last year, the NT Police Commissioner called for similar regulations around hand sanitiser.
01:15
But the NT government says that's not the answer.
01:19
What we have to do is address the root causes of why this is occurring.
01:23
It's a perspective shared by some in Alice Springs.
01:26
We're not really addressing the issue.
01:28
If they've got an addiction to something, then you treat that addiction.
01:31
But others are urging the NT Chief Health Officer to place hand sanitiser on the list of prescribed substances
01:38
so it can be monitored and safely stored.
01:41
There's a response that could happen tomorrow but it just never happens.
01:49
For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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