Scottish Government gets tough on alcohol abuse

The minority Scottish Government, on 2 September 2010, proposed a minimum price of GBP 0.45 (EUR 0.55) for one alcohol unit in an effort to curb excessive alcohol consumption. The proposed price would see the cost of a two-litre bottle of supermarket own-brand cider soar from GBP 1.32 to GBP 3.80 (EUR 4.60), while the price of a bottle of private label vodka would rise from GBP 7.97 to GBP 11.80 (EUR 14.40). Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Health Secretary, said a minimum price was essential to help tackle the high death toll and health burden from alcohol abuse. Scots drink 25 percent more per head of population than the rest of the UK. Her proposal will be added to an alcohol bill going through the Scottish Parliament this month. Opposition parties have already vowed to throw out the proposal. The Scottish Labour Health spokesman argued that minimum unit pricing is effectively a tax on the poor paid directly to the shareholders of the big supermarkets. The Scotch Whisky Association, which represents the producers of Scotland’s most valuable single export, said the measure fails to meet the basic tests of EU law and will do little to address alcohol misuse. It would only cut total alcohol consumption by 4.3 percent. Read on

The minimum price-per-unit of GBP 0.45 is higher than some analysts had expected. Not only prices for private label ciders and vodkas would soar. Beers and lagers would also become more costly. The retail price for four cans of Tennent’s Super lager would rise from GBP 6 to GBP 8.10 (EUR 9.86).

However there would be no price rises for whiskeys produced by Whyte & Mackay, Bell’s and Johnnie Walker, which all currently sell for more than GBP 14 (EUR 17).

As could be expected, a public outcry ensued. Many Scots believe that a minimum price on alcohol will only lead to an increase in petty crime as poor alcoholics will no longer be able to afford their fix. These drinking problems aren’t just a result of the availability of cheap alcohol, but other deep rooted social problems that need to be tackled. There aren’t many countries like Scotland and England where drinking oneself to the point of incapacity is considered a mainstream recreational activity. Indeed, “having fun” and “getting drunk” are almost synonymous, and people are increasingly unable to consider doing one without the other.

As long as going out and getting hammered is a principal leisure activity, and drunkenness a condition to aspire to, things aren’t going to change.

Scotland’s alcohol issue is a problem of culture, not economics.

Still, price is a factor, commentators agree. Setting it higher, though, will push more people out of pubs and into the streets. More likely, a more expensive alcohol means that people will get sloshed at home before going out. Putting the price up at supermarkets might be beneficial for pubs, but it will not reduce drinking.

Moreover, many Scots living near the border to England will just hop over and buy booze on offer there. Or even turn to buying their booze from those privately-operated white vans, which used to be seen queuing in Dover harbor on their way to collect another profitable load of alcohol in France.

The legislation that has made a big difference is the ban on drinking in public. On a warm day Glasgow’s parks used to be crawling with drunks - not any more. In the 1990s, Glasgow police reduced boozing in public parks and city-centre streets by enforcing bylaws against the consumption of alcohol in public and by escorting under-age drinkers home. Initially, people said that the ban would not work but it has.

Perhaps this is the way to go forward.