Alcohol Policy UK

Latest consumption data MESAS 2020: MUP 'maintains lowest level' in Scotland

The Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy (MESAS) monitoring report 2020 provides the latest data on alcohol consumption and measures relating to Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP).

The figures shows in 2019, 9.9 litres (L) of pure alcohol were sold per adult in Scotland, equivalent to 19.1 units per adult per week. This figure is the same as in 2018, which marked a drop from 10.2 litres (L) in 2017 in the wake of the introduction of MUP.

Report highlights issues with underage online sales

A new report reveals a range of concerns relating to the sale of alcohol to under 18s online, making a number of recommendations to tighten their circumvention.

Download the report 'Effective age-gating for underage sales' here [pdf].

The report, released by Alcohol Change UK, finds current methods of age verification are largely ineffectual. When implemented online, they often involve simple 'honour’ checks, which are easily deceived, or alternative forms of authentication that can be bypassed in various ways. Implemented offline, by delivery drivers, etc., they are known to be ineffective in practice. A particular difficulty arises when alcohol is part of a larger online shopping cart, which can lead to it going unnoticed. The report therefore questions the appropriateness of online age-gating (AG) or age-verification (AV) processes.