Inside Health

Minimum pricing is not a nanny state imposition, says Kevan Christie

In amongst the headlines this week highlighting Scotland’s latest horror story in terms of our relationship with alcohol was a figure that will make welcome reading to advocates of minimum unit pricing.

The fact that almost half (47 per cent) of alcohol sold in shops and supermarkets last year cost less than 50p per unit – the new minimum unit price for drink brought in by the Scottish Government – would appear to vindicate the Supreme Court’s decision to approve the policy.

In spite of fierce and some would say shameful opposition from the Scotch Whisky Association, minimum pricing was deemed legal after a protracted court battle that lasted around five years.

This was overshadowed by more shocking figures in the report – Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy (MESAS) – namely adults in Scotland drinking an average of 10.2 litres of alcohol per head, the equivalent to 19.6 units per adult per week.

The report – which predates minimum unit pricing, which came into force on 1 May – also shows that in 2016 there were an average of 22 deaths a week – more than two and a half times the number recorded in 1981 – headline grabbing stuff.

With cheap white cider going up in price from £3.69 at the time of the report to around £11.25, it will take a couple of years and the next alcohol evaluation survey from NHS Health Scotland to measure the true impact that minimum unit pricing has had in terms of the nation’s health.

However, it’s not a massive jump to consider that this particular price hike in cheap cider could potentially lead to better statistics around alcohol-specific deaths and hospital admissions in the most deprived areas of Scotland, which are around eight times higher than their least deprived equivalent.

It’s not all gloom and doom, with the increase in deaths coming at a time when teenagers appear to be turning their backs on previous “rights of passage” behaviour involving heavy drinking at the slightest hint of a milestone event, like turning 18 or starting a new job.

This is deemed seriously “uncool” among millenials who would rather seek out the latest gin and whisky products to be consumed in moderation.

By 2015, only 66 per cent of 15-year-olds and 28 per cent of 13-year-olds said they had ever had an alcoholic drink – the lowest since records began in 1990. Perhaps, this age-group have grown up witnessing the effects that alcohol abuse has had on their parents. Death rates from alcohol are highest in men among the 55 to 64 age group so there may be something of a cultural shift taking place in terms of drinking habits among the generations.

The report shows that three quarters (73 per cent) of alcohol sold in Scotland is through the off-trade which suggests those hit hardest aren’t traditional pub drinkers.

This doesn’t take into account people who like to pick up a bottle of wine on the way home from the boozer or a habit among the younger generation of drinking in the house before going out to a nightclub.

So, in terms of the report the evidence would appear to be there in favour of minimum unit pricing.

From a health point of view, there’s little doubt it can benefit acute drinkers who are suffering the most harm – despite the howls of “nanny state” protest and the politicisation of the whole process.