New Year's Booze Bans Succeed in Sydney

Sydney, Australia may have been one of the earliest New Year's parties to start, but it was a frustrating place for revelers intent on public drinking. Anyone carrying alcohol was banned from most of the choice viewing sites for the city’s lavish harbor fireworks show, as governing councils expanded the city’s annual booze-free zones in an effort to turn the evening back over to families and children. Alcohol-free zones included parks, harbor viewing areas, and whole streets. The result? The commander of a local ambulance service told The Australian that there was an 83% reduction in ambulance runs involving intoxication or alcohol abuse.  And the head of emergency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney saw a sharp drop in the number of admissions for injuries due to fights. “What’s happened in the past,” he recalls, “is that people with all sorts of injuries sat in the emergency room for hours and hours, getting angrier and angrier.” Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch claims that the city experienced a 50% drop in violent crimes for the evening. The reason: “Far less drunk boof-heads punching on.” Australian physicians and police officers are considering the use of alcohol-free zones for other public holidays.