Putting an end to too many wee drams

Alcohol abuse in Scotland outstrips heart problems as the main source of hospital admissions. Photo / AP

Scotland will enter a new age of temperance under radical plans aimed at curbing drinking in a country with some of the worst alcohol abuse rates in the world.

Ministers unveiled new plans yesterday which will set a minimum price for drinks, based on the number of units they contain, and a ban on promotions such as buy-one-get-one-free offers. If the plans are approved, Scotland will become the first country in Europe to fix a minimum price on drinks.

South of the border, ministers have put the brakes on anti-drinking proposals out of fear that the already struggling pub industry will be hit even harder during the recession.

But the Scottish Nationalist Party, which made the proposals, has vowed to push ahead with its temperance measures in a country where alcohol abuse now outstrips heart problems as the main source of hospital admissions.

Under the new rules, retailers will be obligated to stop alcohol being sold for "pocket money prices" and cut-price offers will be banned.

The display and marketing of alcohol will also be restricted to specific areas within off-sales premises and new legislation will introduce a "social responsibility fee" for retailers who fail to clamp down on excessive under-age drinking.

Under pressure from student groups, pub owners and retail groups, the party backed down from a proposal which would have meant only those over the age of 21 would be allowed to buy alcohol in off-licences.

They also decided against implementing an initiative where supermarkets and off-licences would have had to set up separate alcohol checkouts.

But if the new laws are passed, local police will be able to enforce regional age limits in areas where youth drinking is a major problem.



Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's Health Secretary, said: "Plummeting prices and aggressive promotion have led to a surge in consumption, causing and adding to health problems ranging from liver and heart diseases to diabetes, obesity, dementia and cancers."

Ministers declined to say what their minimum price per unit of alcohol would be, but research at the University of Sheffield has shown fixing prices at 40p per unit led to a 2.6 per cent reduction in consumption and a 4 per cent reduction among young drinkers.

The proposals have been heavily criticised by retail groups and the drinks industry, who believe that setting minimum prices will penalise law-abiding drinkers while failing to tackle the root causes of alcohol abuse.

HEAVY TOLL
* Scotland has the eighth highest rate of alcohol consumption in the world.
* Every person in Scotland over the age of 16 drinks an average of 23 units of alcohol every week, the equivalent of 570 pints of beer, or 125 bottles of wine, or 42 bottles of vodka a year.
* In 2002, approximately 475,000 hospital admissions were alcohol related but this figure almost doubled to 811,000 in 2006.
* Alcohol abuse is thought to cost Scotland's economy more than 2.25 billion ($6.36 billion) every year.
* More than 1500 Scots die from alcohol related problems every year.

- INDEPENDENT