It is concerning, frustrating and disheartening to hear that Scotland’s alcohol death toll continues to rise, but it is perhaps not surprising.
Not so long ago, we could pride ourselves on being a world leader in tackling alcohol harm, with the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) back in 2012. But the journey of what happened next (or maybe what didn’t happen) explains a lot about how we got where we are today, with this grim toll of over 11,000 alcohol deaths in the past decade alone.
We seem to see alcohol harm, and alcohol deaths, as somewhat inevitable in Scotland – an unfortunate by-product of our drinking culture. And isn’t this just a bit of fun, because ‘Everybody loves a drink, don’t they?’ and ‘It’s always wine o’clock somewhere!’
At Scottish Families, we support families who have lost loved ones to alcohol, who are living every day with their loved one’s drinking, and those whose loved ones are in recovery (which brings its own stresses for families constantly fearful of relapse). They describe the challenges of living in our ‘Alcohol Everywhere’ environment in Scotland, a permissive, alco-genic backdrop to their everyday lives. It is almost impossible nowadays to find an Alcohol Free Space to enjoy as a family, but it wasn’t always like this.
Read more: Scotland: Alcohol deaths increase to 15-year high in 2022
We portray ourselves as a nation which has forever loved its drink, but only in recent years have we introduced alcohol in cinemas, bookshops, coffee shops, at family and community events, and as an 'essential’ part of the weekly supermarket shop.
This year we saw the Edinburgh Fringe, one of the world’s leading arts festivals, sponsored by an alcohol company, which may have looked like philanthropic support for the arts, but was a brilliant marketing move. (And it was ironic to note that the Fringe’s welfare hub for performers was in the alcohol-free venue of the local Quaker Meeting House, a move interestingly very much welcomed by the artists).
Like many workplaces, many of our staff at Scottish Families have personal experience of alcohol harm. I was (probably slightly smugly to be honest) talking to someone recently about all of our work events being alcohol-free, which definitely requires a bit more imagination but guarantees everyone feels safe and included.
She said ‘Nobody would brag about having a heroin-free wedding!’, which I thought was a brilliant retort and very true. Both are mind-altering and mood-altering addictive substances, albeit only one of them is legal, but we have become so used to Alcohol Everywhere to mark every celebration, commiseration, and every other event, that being alcohol-free (or sober-curious as some say) still feels noteworthy rather than normal.
The alcohol industry presents itself as a benign protector of jobs, and champion promoter of tourism, but their prolonged legal action challenging MUP and delaying its implementation until 2018 inevitably contributed to today’s reality. The price point per unit today is the same as that set for the original legislation in 2012, a woefully inadequate 50p.
The immediate and positive impact of MUP in reducing consumption, reducing hospital admissions and reducing deaths, has diminished with each year that has passed. The industry continue to play this card, encouraging the First Minister to announce to Parliament in April that he had heard their concerns about Scottish Government plans for marketing restrictions, and he had sent his officials back to the drawing board on the issue.
International evidence shows that the three ‘Best Buys’ in the World Health Organisation’s view, of action on price, availability and marketing, are the most effective ways to reduce alcohol harm and deaths, alongside a choice of good quality and easy to access treatment and support for those concerned about their own alcohol use.
The Scottish Government knows all of this, and almost six years ago (November 2018) published Scotland’s Alcohol Framework and Rights, Respect and Recovery strategy to make it all happen. Since then it feels we have waited and waited for all of their bold, evidence-based commitments to be realised, but with little sign of implementation.
Read more: Alcohol deaths: The changing trends in drinking and deaths
This is in stark contrast to their response to the drugs death crisis, which has had its own Taskforce, National Drugs Mission, £250 million of new investment, and very clear written standards for drug treatment services to deliver.
I’m not sure how much longer families can wait for action to happen. What we certainly don’t need are any more words, platitudes, plans or strategies. It’s actions not words which will save lives.
Justina Murray, is the CEO, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs
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