The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Raise a glass to it, but minimum pricing isn’t a silver bullet
Doubt over court ruling making any difference
Forgive me for not toasting the Supreme Court’s judgment on the minimum pricing of alcohol in recent days, but I genuinely fear it won’t make the difference its advocates believe.
Ministers and health professionals were all part of the fanfare last week, suggesting a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol will be a massively useful weapon in the battle against problem and binge drinking.
It’s a fight the country isn’t winning at the moment – that’s clear – and the very fact estimates suggest alcohol misuse costs this country £3.6 billion a year, or £900 per adult, is stark enough.
That’s not to mention the other ‘costs’ that can be attributed to the demon drink – the relationship breakdowns, the mental scars, not just the effect on people’s physical health and wellbeing.
So after around five years of legal wrangling, the green light to minimum pricing was given last week, with the court ruling it’s a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a “bold and necessary move” to improve public health, and health secretary Shona Robison branded it a “landmark moment”. I’ve got to say I remain sceptical. This move isn’t meant to target solely chronic alcoholics, it’s about tackling alcohol misuse in more generic terms, and I get that.
But if people want to drink alcohol, they’ll drink alcohol.
For the real problem drinkers, many of whom are in deprived communities anyway, they’ll pay whatever extra it takes to get their hands on their tipple.
Yes it will target certain kinds of cider, perry, wines and super strength lagers but there’s a certain drink which has been the ned’s choice in the kingdom for years, certainly since I was a lad, which has been heavily linked to crime and disorder, and this policy won’t make a darned bit of difference to its price.
And it will have no impact in pubs, nightclubs and restaurants, where the prices charged are already above the minimum pricing threshold.
I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s a tax on the poor, because that’s too simplistic, but there’s a few familiar faces in my local offy who won’t bat an eyelid.
I just fear minimum pricing will simply take food off the table of the families of serious drinkers.
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