Minimum pricing plans boosted by new study

News Reporter

Friday 19 October 2012

CONSUMPTION of strong beer in Canada fell by more than one-fifth after the introduction of a minimum pricing policy for alcohol, it has emerged.

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Helen McArdle

The research, carried out in the province of Saskatchewan, where minimum pricing was introduced two years ago, has been hailed as evidence the policy could save thousands of Scots lives.

In this part of Canada, the policy is said to have led to a significant reduction in the consumption of cheap, high strength alcohol products.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found a 10% increase in the minimum prices reduced total consumption by 8%. However, the effect was more pronounced in relation to the strongest alcoholic drinks, with a 10% increase in the minimum price of beer associated with a 22% decrease in consumption of higher strength ales. Researchers found drinkers started to favour lower alcohol content beer, wine and cocktails after the price increases for stronger products.Professor Tim Stockwell, lead author of the study, said: "As cheaper alcohol is preferred by young and heavier drinkers, both of whom are more liable to experience alcohol-related harms, price increases that target the cheapest, strongest alcohol products are likely to have significant public health benefits. "Saskatchewan's approach to minimum alcohol pricing is very similar to what Scotland is planning. We found their approach to have more than double the impact of a less comprehensive approach used in British Columbia, where minimum prices were not linked to alcohol content."The Canadian example has been welcomed as an important test case for how minimum pricing could play out in Scotland. Dr Evelyn Gillan, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: "This important research from Canada provides more evidence that minimum pricing works. It shows the real potential of minimum pricing to reduce the consumption of those who are at the greatest risk of harm from their drinking."Implementing minimum pricing to tackle high levels of alcohol harm should therefore be considered a crucial policy measure as the evidence shows that it can deliver additional health benefits that cannot be achieved in other ways."Dr Peter Rice, chairman of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (Shaap) and consultant addiction psychiatrist at NHS Tayside, said the study offered "hard evidence" minimum pricing reduced overall consumption, with off-sales hit rather than pubs and restaurants.He added: These are the outcomes Shaap anticipated when we first advocated minimum pricing in 2007."It comes as the Scottish Government prepares to defend the introduction of minimum pricing in Scotland against a legal challenge brought by the world's biggest alcohol corporations. A petition by the Scotch Whisky Association to get minimum pricing legislation overturned by the court will be heard in Edinburgh next week.Health Secretary Alex Neil said: "I welcome the findings of Professor Stockwell's report. "We believe minimum pricing to be the best way of tackling Scotland's unhealthy relationship with alcohol. "The benefits are clear, from fewer alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions to a reduction in crime. Minimum pricing can save lives and reduce the harm caused by alcohol abuse."

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Minimum pricing plans boosted by new study

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