Another controversial measure went through Holyrood earlier this week, when MSPs backed Scottish Government plans to hike the minimum unit price charged for alcohol from the current level of 50p a unit to 65p a unit.
Today one of our readers worries that the policy may have had harmful consequences.
Alan McGibbon of Paisley writes:
"How can Christina McKelvie, the Drug and Alcohol Policy Minister, possibly say that the minimum unit pricing (MUP) of alcohol has reduced deaths by 13.4% when official statistics published by the National Records of Scotland published in August 2023 states that the rate of alcohol-related deaths has generally increased since 2012? In the latest year for which figures are available 1,276 related deaths were recorded for 2022, an increase of 2% on 2021. The same statistics point out that mortality rates are 4.3 times higher in the most deprived areas of Scotland when compared with the least deprived areas.
Doesn’t this infer that the policy isn’t having the desired effect of making alcohol too expensive for those living in deprived areas? This would suggest that individuals living in these areas are still managing to find the cash to buy their wines and spirits. Could it be that money that would otherwise have been used for household essentials for the family is being diverted to meet the additional cost arising from MUP?
Would it be too embarrassing for the Scottish Government to undertake research (and publish the results) comparing changes in child poverty levels with increases in alcohol-related deaths in deprived areas?"
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