Cheap-alcohol ban ‘would hit danger drinkers most’
INTRODUCING a ban on cheap alcohol in Wales would have the greatest impact on those at risk of doing harm to their health through drinking, a new report has concluded.
Researchers at Sheffield University found that three-quarters of all alcohol bought in Wales is drunk by 22% of the adult population deemed “hazardous” or “harmful” drinkers.
Within this, 3% of people considered the most harmful drinkers consume 27% of all alcohol bought in Wales.
The research, by the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group at the university, also shows:
Moderate drinkers consume an average of 211 units of alcohol per year compared to 1,236 for hazardous drinkers and 3,924 for harmful drinkers;
harmful drinkers spend an average £2,882 a year on alcohol compared to £1,209 for hazardous drinkers and £276 for moderate drinkers; and
alcohol-attributable deaths and hospital admissions are concentrated in hazardous and particularly harmful drinkers who are more deprived.
In October 2017 the Welsh Government unveiled a bill that will, if passed by the National Assembly for Wales, introduce a minimum price for the sale of alcohol.
The law aims to bring in a minimum price per unit – possibly 50p – in a bid to reduce the health effects of excessive drinking.
It will make it an offence for alcohol to be supplied below that price, with councils being given the power to issue fixed-penalty notices to businesses not complying.
And this new report backs the bill by concluding that those who drink to harmful levels will be the ones most affected by the law change.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said if the Public Health (Minimum Unit Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill is passed, it will potentially save lives.
He said: “People who drink alcohol at hazardous and harmful levels drink 75% of the alcohol consumed in Wales.
“The introduction of a minimum unit price would be effective in reducing alcohol consumption among these groups, as well as reducing the number of alcoholrelated deaths and hospitalisations.
“The report shows the greatest impact of a minimum unit price would be on the most deprived harmful drinkers, while moderate drinkers would experience only small impacts on their alcohol consumption and spending.
“This is because moderate drinkers tend to buy alcohol which would be subject to little or no increase in price under the policy.”
The report reveals the population of Wales buys 50% of its alcohol for less than 55p per unit, 37% for less than 50p per unit and 27% for less than 45p per unit.
It finds heavier drinkers are more likely to buy alcohol sold below these thresholds.
Andrew Misell, the director of Alcohol Concern Cymru, added: “It’s been clear for quite some time that a lot of the alcohol bought in this country is being consumed by those of us for whom alcohol is a problem, not a pleasure.
“We also know that for some of the cheapest, strongest drinks there is very little demand apart from by people who are suffering from alcohol dependency.
“Making and selling alcoholic drinks is a legitimate business that no-one is trying to stop, but it is worth asking why some sections of the alcohol industry have stood so firmly against this minimum pricing measure, which will reduce harmful drinking.”
The Sheffield Alcohol Research Group was commissioned by the Welsh Government in June 2017 to update the 2014 model-based appraisal of the likely impact of a range of minimum unit pricing policies in Wales.