The Scottish government announced radical plans on Monday to clamp down on low-price alcohol sales in a bid to tackle Scotland’s “shocking” drink problem.
Ministers are set to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol, though the level has yet to be determined. The move will make Scotland one of the few places in the world with a minimum price for alcohol.
Edinburgh said cut-price deals encouraging bulk buying, such as “three for the price of two” offers, would be banned, with the display and marketing of alcohol restricted to certain areas in stores.
The plans were launched at a Glasgow hospital to underline the £2.25 billion (US$3.15 billion) cost of alcohol misuse in Scotland.
Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the scale of the alcohol problem was “shocking.”
“Plummeting prices and aggressive promotion have led to a surge in consumption, causing and adding to health problems ranging from liver and heart diseases to diabetes, obesity, dementia and cancers,” she said.
Figures out last week showed that the number of hospital treatments for alcohol-related conditions hit a record 42,430 in 2007 and last year.
Sales figures showed nearly 50 million liters of pure alcohol were drunk in 2007 — 11.8 liters for every person aged over 16.
That is the equivalent of everyone over 16 drinking 570 pints of beer, or 125 bottles of wine, or 42 bottles of vodka.
Researchers found that almost 1,500 Scots were dying per year from alcohol-related problems.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: “Cheap, readily available alcohol is fueling violent crime and anti-social behavior, as well as taking its toll on our economy and health service.”
However, Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Irresponsible drinking is not about price or availability, yet this is the main focus of the government’s approach.”
“At a time when customers’ finances are under severe pressure, it’s incredible that the Scottish government believes voters will thank them for using the force of law to push up prices,” she said.
The Portman Group, an alcohol industry body which promotes responsible drinking, said the plans were flawed and would punish all drinkers.
Group chief executive David Poley said people who drank to get drunk would not be influenced by the measures.
“We should be targeting the harmful drinking minority through better education and effective law enforcement,” he said in a statement.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in