Minimum price for alcohol is a good policy
The harmful use of alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths each year. 320 000 young people between the age of 15 and 29 die from alcohol-related causes, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group....
View ArticleMeasures to tackle alcohol misuse
Richard Simpson MSP argues that we need more than just minimum pricing to tackle alcohol misuse. Alcohol misuse and its consequence for health and community safety remains a significant challenge...
View ArticleWhy do the Scots want minimum pricing of alcohol?
This shows the comparison of rates of liver disease in Scotland against other European countries, and against England and Wales. As alcohol becomes more affordable, consumption increases; as...
View ArticleNew ideas in public health
There is still controversy about the plain packaging of cigarettes, and unit pricing of alcohol, but it seems clear that both measures will be introduced eventually throughout the UK. But there has...
View ArticleMinimum Pricing for Alcohol
When the UK Government abandoned its proposal to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol in July 2013, it argued there was a lack of concrete evidence that the policy would reduce the harm caused by...
View ArticleLabour’s nanny state plan for drinkers
The Daily Mail claims to have a copy of proposals from the Shadow Cabinet subgroup on health. They say the Labour health blueprint includes: A total ban on the current £300 million sports sponsorship...
View ArticleTobacco, alcohol and processed food industries
How do they fit into the public health agenda? The growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is triggering substantial policy concern, evident, for example, in the 2011 UN high level...
View ArticleThe government’s own numbers show that alcohol is under-taxed
Alcohol produces externalities – costs that are imposed on others without their consent. For example, drinking is associated with crime and violence, road traffic accidents, costs to the healthcare...
View ArticleWhy we don’t need the alcohol industry for a strong economy
In 1850, the French economist Frederic Bastiat wrote the parable of a shopkeeper whose window is smashed. Aghast at the damage, the shopkeeper is consoled with the idea that at least his broken windows...
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