Two prongs
Has minimum unit pricing (MUP) worked? In his column, Murdo Fraser claims not (Perspective, 14 February). This is surprising, given the strength of the evidence published last year in the respected medical journal The Lancet. That study, which found that MUP was indeed saving lives, is widely accepted as conclusive by medical and scientific experts in the field.
Those like Mr Fraser who question how MUP can be working when alcohol deaths in Scotland have in fact risen should consider how our recent track record compares to England, which has no MUP. The Covid pandemic saw a rise in alcohol deaths throughout Europe and North America, and in Scotland since 2018, when MUP was introduced, alcohol deaths have risen by 10 per cent. But over the same time period alcohol deaths in England have risen by 38 per cent. Between 2012 and 2018 the number of people dying because of alcohol in Scotland was almost twice the rate as in England. But since MUP was introduced in Scotland in 2018, the gap has narrowed and was almost halved by 2021. Common sense dictates that MUP must be at least partly responsible for Scotland faring less badly than our English neighbours.
Mr Fraser also claims, with no supporting evidence, that MUP has caused alcohol-dependent drinkers to turn to illicit drugs. In fact this exact issue has been examined in four separate studies which found no effect of MUP on illicit drug behaviour.
Mr Fraser argues that we need to do more for dependent drinkers – and here we are in complete agreement. Although MUP, by increasing the price of the cheapest drinks favoured by heavy drinkers, will reduce the number of drinkers who become dependent, it is not a treatment for those who, unfortunately, are already dependent. However, to suggest we should abandon MUP to focus only on the treatment of alcohol dependency makes no sense. We need both prevention and treatment.
MUP is not the sole solution, but it is part of the solution and I encourage politicians from across the political spectrum to support the Scottish Government’s proposals to continue MUP and to uprate it to a level appropriate for 2024. (Dr) Alastair Macgilchrist Chair, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems
Edinburgh