Police say nearly a fifth of their resources are going toward alcohol-related incidents.
Police Commissioner Howard Broad released their submission on alcohol reform to the Law Commission on Tuesday, saying it is the drug that causes the most problems for policing.
Police say at least a third of offences are committed by people under the influence of alcohol.
Mr Broad outlined five steps police want taken to reduce that, including raising the drinking age to 20, reducing trading hours for bars and bottle stores, and more powers to shut down problem bars and shops.
He believes the type of enforcement police have been using is not going far enough.
"Liquor bans, mobile and compulsory breath-testing, running controlled purchase operations - is it enough? We look around at the throbbing mass of drunkenness and we cannot say that it is.
"We get a clear message from the public that they've had enough of binge-drinking. And we've had enough of pouring at least 18% of the total police budget into alcohol-related issues."
Mr Broad says there is a limit to how much patching up police can do as the damage continues grow.
