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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00:00Every 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.
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