How to combat binge drinking? A tale of two cities
In Manchester, meanwhile, council and National Health Service leaders across the ten boroughs say they need to raise the price of drinks because the region has higher than average rates of deaths and hospital admissions from alcohol consumption.
Alcohol can be bought in Greater Manchester for less than the price of soft drinks. Some alcohol costs as little as GBP 0.14 per unit. Under the proposals the minimum price for a unit of alcohol would be set at GBP 0.50, meaning six cans of lager could not be sold for less than about GBP 6 (EUR 6.70) and a two-litre bottle of cider for less than GBP 5.50 (EUR 6.20). A bottle of wine would have a minimum price of about GBP 4.50 (EUR 5.0) and a 700 ml bottle of whisky would be at least GBP 14 (EUR 15.70).
Currently, you can find a bottle of whisky retailing for as little as GBP 7 (EUR 7.90).
According to reports in the British media in October 2009, Manchester’s health bosses are following the lead of the Scottish executive, which has announced plans to introduce a minimum price for alcohol. The move is also supported by Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, the British Medical Association and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), the NHS body that issues health guidelines.
The move by Greater Manchester will increase the pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to follow medical advice and raise the price of alcohol. He has so far resisted such measures.
Greater Manchester believes the harm caused by alcohol abuse justifies its actions, because estimates for harmful and binge drinking in the Greater Manchester area are significantly worse than the average for England.
Between one fifth and one quarter of Manchester residents are thought to be hazardous drinkers, according to a report by Liverpool John Moores University.
In Hamburg, the fight against binge drinking and alcohol-related violence was supported by Germany’s brewers right from the start especially when local brewer Holsten (owned by Carlsberg) took the lead.
For years, residents in St Pauli had complained about people getting very drunk on booze which they bought in bottles at kiosks and petrol stations. Subsequently, these bottles were either smashed up in the streets or used as weapons in fights. In 2008, every other day the police registered an incident in which a broken glass bottle had been used as a weapon. Each year about four million people visit St Pauli and the Reeperbahn.
Hamburg’s politicians responded by threatening St Pauli’s publicans and retailers with a total ban on selling alcohol at night.
However, to prevent such a draconian measure, brewers decided to supply their off-premise outlets with plastic bottles and used their influence on publicans and their bouncers to stop pub-crawling punters from taking glass bottles out into the streets from pubs.
Since glass bottles were not the only weapons used in brawls, Hamburg in December 2007 prohibited the carrying of any kind of weapon in St Pauli, including pocket knives. This ban was implemented with the help of the police setting up road blocks and stopping people at all metro stations for the area to search their bags.
Finally, in July this year, legislation was passed – with brewers’ implicit consent – which makes it illegal to either sell beverages in glass bottles for outdoors consumption or carry any kind of liquid in glass bottles in St Pauli between 10 pm on Fridays and 6 am on Mondays.
Reports are not out yet if the ban on glass bottles has had the desired effects.
