Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) has produced a minimum pricing briefing for NGOs and Public Health Networks in the European Union to try and garner support for the Scottish government’s plans to introduce Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP).
Earlier this year the Scottish Government passed the Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill, meaning a 50 pence minimum unit price (MUP) could be in place north of the border by April next year. However, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), supported by major drinks companies, have submitted a petition to the Scottish Court of Session seeking a judicial review of the legislation. Alcohol Focus Scotland were recently granted the right to submit evidence as part of the appeal.
In England, the Home Office has set a target of implementing a minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol by October 2014 in its Business Plan 2012-2015. See here for our recent report on whether claims minimum pricing 'could backfire' stack up.
Scottish Drink Drive limit consultation
A consultation on the lowering of the drink driving limit in Scotland from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg is now open and runs until 29 November 2012. See Alcohol Focus Scotland report.
Last year in England the Government decided to keep the 80mg legal limit despite a report advising it to be lowered in line with most of Europe.
Local alcohol profiles for Scotland
Alcohol Focus Scotland have published local profiles which provide a brief summary of the overall costs of alcohol-related harm to local authority areas in Scotland in 2010/11.
In 2010, the Scottish Government produced The Societal Cost of Alcohol Misuse in Scotland for 2007 which estimated a central cost of £3.6bn. This national methodology has been applied to local data to provide estimates of the cost of alcohol-related harm at a local authority area level. Costs have been calculated for a range of alcohol harm indicators covering health, crime, social care, productive capacity and wider social costs.
The findings showed that alcohol is costing Glasgow city £364.8m every year. Scottish Health Secretary Alex Neil commented on the findings "These findings demonstrate the continuing extent of Scotland’s alcohol misuse problem which costs Scotland £3.6 billion per year, equating to £900 per adult in Scotland whether they drink or not.
Local Alcohol Profiles for England are produced by the North West Public Health Observatory.
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