Published on 12, July, 2020
Is it another tax on the poor? Or is it genuinely going to save lives? I am not sure. But the latest price hike on alcohol in Scotland comes at a time when many of us are struggling enough already as it is and this latest price hike of more than 30% for alcohol will not land favourably amongst many Scottish recreational alcohol users. Now following the price hike a standard bottle of gin will now cost £30 give or take. That is a small fortune for a bottle of gin. If we work it all out to get tipsy on the cheapest beer in a Scottish convenience store will now cost roughly £8. Nah that’s too expensive at least for me. Just to get tipsy not even drunk? Nah don’t think so. Because of Minimum unit pricing a pint from a bar in Scotland already costs roughly £5 that can now be expected to go up to £7. Is this a joke? Who can afford to pay £7 for a pint of beer? I mean it works okay for me because I was already looking for reasons to give up alcohol and now I think I have it. No way can I afford to drink after this 30% increase. No way! If the Scottish government wants to reduce people drinking this will surely work because this new law is going to make it really hard to get drunk on a budget. It seems a bit unfair to punish people who like to drink but at the same time I am aware that we have a massive issue with alcohol here in Scotland and the government has to do something to stop people destroying themselves. But what do you all think about this new price hike? Do you agree with it? Is it another tax on the poor to stop them enjoying themselves? Or is it a genuine heartfelt approach to stopping alcohol related harm?
Yeh that’s horrible sorry you had to go through that. I think the Scottish government and the Irish government has wanted to clamp down on alcohol use for a while now but they keep facing pushback from the alcohol lobby. These alcohol companies have a lot of money and always get their way. They argue that the government is trying to take peoples freedoms away from them. Same as the gun lobby in America they say the same kinda things. ‘They’re trying to take our freedoms to buy machine guns away’ etc
Yeh it’s strange I dunno why it’s legal I guess you could say that alcohol companies have campaigned and advertised for their drugs to be acceptable and an allowed way to get high. Really when you drink alcohol your getting high of a drug. That’s what it is but we invent different word for getting high off alcohol to words like ‘drunk’ so it puts alcohol in its own category where it’s not really seen as a drug even though it is a drug the same as LSD or cocaine etc.
It sounds to me like the benefits are worth it, but there's a vitally important consideration that's noted in the report linked below by Fibonacci Squid:
"We have seen reductions in deaths and hospital admissions directly caused by sustained, high levels of alcohol consumption, and this is further evidence that those drinking at harmful and hazardous levels have reduced their consumption.
MUP alone is not enough to address the specific and complex needs of those with alcohol dependence who will often prioritise alcohol over other needs, and it is important to continue to provide services and any wider support that addresses the root cause of their dependence."
For anyone who knows or has known an alcoholic's death. It is the longest suicide note of all. It is not pleasant at all. Alcoholism is a disease and it is akin to being a thief that sneaks up and steals the person that you once knew.
Anything that can reduce or even stop one of these horrible deaths I am all for.
Alcohol seems to be the only drug, one which harms thousands across the UK, to be legal and acceptable.
No actually this is something that has had a huge impact on alcohol related harms, and it has the biggest impact on more deprived communities, which are usually the ones that suffer most from alcohol related harms.
The last introduction of minimum unit pricing produced: 'It has reduced deaths directly caused by alcohol consumption by an estimated 13.4% and hospital admissions by 4.1%, with the largest reductions seen in men and those living in the 40% most deprived areas.' https://publichealthscotland.scot/news/2023/june/minimum-unit-pricing-reduces-alcohol-related-harm-to-health/
This is actually a really interesting article to have a read through and I recommend you consider doing so, if you're interested in the effects that the pricing had and why they think it had that impact.
For one, I totally agree with this price increase, if we can continue these benefits I'm all for it.