These changing habits are having an impact on bars and live music venues<\/a>, but what about New Year\u2019s Eve?<\/p>\n To find out, I bravely contacted every single gen Z person I have ever encountered in my entire life to ask what they had planned. \u201cThe whole blacking out shitfaced goodness is still happening, but I think there\u2019s a change in youth valuing things like wellbeing and economic security,\u201d said Sacha*, 20. \u201cThere\u2019s an over-abundance of \u2018designated drivers\u2019 because everyone is watching their alcohol intake.\u201d She\u2019s spending New Year\u2019s with her family \u2013 \u201csomething more low-key that doesn\u2019t go till dawn\u201d \u2013 with just \u201ca few\u201d quiet drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ray Thompson, national director for alcohol harm prevention organisation Red Frogs New Zealand, has observed how the pandemic changed drinking habits in young people on occasions like New Year\u2019s Eve. \u201cOver Covid, things like university parties and clubbing weren\u2019t happening in the same way, so we now see more elements of overwhelm, and young people who don\u2019t know how to hang out in groups any more,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile the overall amount of young people drinking is going down, we do still find those elements of drinking to excess.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with social shifts, the cost of living has also impacted how young people approach New Year\u2019s. \u201cNYE at a mate\u2019s place is always the go because you can get fucked up for cheap, and celebrate the New Year with your closest mates while not having to spend $$$ waiting an hour in traffic to get out of town,\u201d said one 25-year-old. \u201cI was looking at tickets to AUM [festival], and they\u2019re like 400 bucks,\u201d said James*, 21. \u201cAnd then you have to pay for alcohol there, a tent and transport. A lot of people my age just can\u2019t afford that sort of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n After spending the last three years at Rhythm and Vines, Ella*, 22, is splashing her cash at Lakes Festival in Christchurch followed by Rhythm and Alps in W\u0101naka this year. \u201cI\u2019m sad to be retiring [from R&V] but I am very much still a festival goer,\u201d she said. \u201cA part of me wants to grow out of it because it\u2019s so expensive, but I do love a good New Year\u2019s.\u201d She and her friends still drink \u201ca lot\u201d at festivals, but she has noticed things becoming a lot more \u201cdrug-oriented\u201d in recent years \u2013 especially ketamine and MDMA. \u201cLast year at Rhythm and Vines, it was zombieland,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Auckland, James* has noticed the same trend. \u201cMore people are taking substances now, because they\u2019re cheaper and much more available. A gram of cocaine is about $200, but that\u2019s how much you\u2019d spend on a night out drinking anyway.\u201d While he would rather \u201ctake ketamine<\/a>\u00a0than drink a box of beers\u201d this New Year\u2019s \u2013 \u201cyou can get into a k-hole<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t happen very often\u201d \u2013 he still doesn\u2019t have firm plans. \u201cIdeally a crammed house party in Mount Eden or Grey Lynn, and my New Year\u2019s countdown song being \u2018Ribs\u2019 by Lorde.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarah Helm, executive director for Te Puna Whakaiti P\u0101mamae Kai Whakapiri New Zealand Drug Foundation, told The Spinoff that people aged 15 to 24 are the highest users of MDMA, cannabis and hallucinogens \u2013 although cocaine use remains highest in the 24- to 35-year-old bracket. \u201cFor people taking cocaine in place of MDMA, it\u2019s important to know that cocaine has different risks from MDMA. Cocaine can also come with what we call a \u2018compulsive redosing\u2019 effect \u2013 which means you could end up taking more than you intended,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n There have also been recent instances of super-strength MDMA pills circulating, where one pill contains upwards of two to three common doses. \u201cOne pill does not necessarily equal one dose. Start with a low dose and wait to feel the effects before deciding to take more,\u201d said Helm. Her broad advice for anyone taking drugs over New Year\u2019s is to stay aware that they might be mixed with something else, or be another drug entirely. Festivals will have drug-testing stations or you can find a drug-testing station before New Year\u2019s Eve<\/a>.<\/p>\n Inspector Ian Paulin, manager of alcohol harm prevention for NZ Police, has also seen a spike in young people using drugs of late. \u201cDefinitely over the last six years, even just looking at a cohort of students in Dunedin, MDMA use is through the roof in that area,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a party drug that often won\u2019t be taken in isolation \u2013 it will be taken with alcohol as well.\u201d While he is aware of the various headlines about the decline in youth drinking, he says it is a different story on the ground. \u201cCertainly last year in W\u0101naka, it was no different than any other year,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was probably no different than back in the 80s when I went there as a young fellow drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n Paulin will be patrolling in Dunedin\u2019s Octagon for New Year\u2019s Eve, and is preparing for another big night. \u201cIf you graph alcohol harm over the last decade, you\u2019ve got a massive spike on New Year\u2019s Eve \u2013 anyone that\u2019s ever policed in the last 40 years will tell you that.\u201d His \u201cold school\u201d advice to young partygoers is simple \u2013 \u201cmake a plan about how you\u2019re going to get home, or [have] some ability to pay for transport if you need to. Make sure you all keep together, and make sure someone in the group is going to remain reasonably sober, if not completely sober.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Thompson at Red Frogs will also be out on the frontline at festivals and events over the next three weeks, helping volunteers provide supplies like pancakes, water, lollies and medical support to young people who may have pushed the boat out too far. \u201cAt the end of the day, most young people are just out there wanting to have a good time on New Year\u2019s Eve, and having a good time is not actually synonymous with drinking as much alcohol as you can or taking as many substances as you can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody starts their New Year\u2019s thinking \u2018man, I really hope I wake up under a bush tomorrow\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Casey infiltrates gen Z circles to find out how young people are planning to ring in 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20784,492,1757,5131,3106,23199,111,43,139,69,118407,2935],"class_list":["post-198016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alcohol","tag-comments-enabled","tag-drugs","tag-festival","tag-gen-z","tag-new-years-eve","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rhythm-and-vines","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A deeply millennial reference.<\/p>\n
Rhythm and Vines has been held in a Gisborne vineyard for the past 20 years (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
One R&V patron has noted more drugs at the festival in recent years (Photo: Facebook)<\/p>\n