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.
Whilst NHS Health Scotland highlights this remains the lowest recorded level of consumption since the time series began - and the smallest gap between England & Wales - many will no doubt wonder about the extent of the impact of MUP on consumption. Indeed, the BBC framed the news as a 'stalling' of the fall in consumption, highlighting 22 people per week are still dying as a result of their drinking. See here for a MESAS Twitter summary thread and an AFS blog by Alison Douglas.
Others may note that Scotland's legislation proposing a 50 pence MUP was passed in 2012, with implementation stalled until 2017 due to a long-running legal battle headed by sections of the alcohol industry. Meanwhile Wales saw the introduction of a 50 pence MUP in March this year, with attempts in Ireland to follow suit. However, in England, MUP has remained a bone of contention following an infamous u-turn in 2013. A comprehensive set of evaluation methods will continue under the MESAS programme, with many considering it still early days in understanding the impact of the measure.
A note to our subscribers: since 2019 Alcohol Policy UK no longer receives funding support following a long-running agreement with the former Alcohol Research UK/AERC. We are currently exploring future funding options so we can once again provide more regular updates to our readers.
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