Minimum alcohol price right or wrong

Health officials in Guernsey are considering introducing minimum-pricing on alcoholic drinks, the BBC has been told.

The idea is to be debated by the Health and Social Services Department (HSSD).

In England and Wales, the government is proposing a minimum price of 40p per unit of alcohol, in an effort to combat binge drinking.

Dr Nikki Brink, of the HSSD, said she would be following the proposals to see how it could be applied in Guernsey
(from BBC)

Just another tax or is it the right thing to do?

its just another sneaky tax collection.price wont stop people who want to drink ..this is going to penalise people who drink for pleasure a minimum price wont stop hardened drinkers...maybe what they should be doing is showing people graphic pics of people with liver damage and telling people the whole truth about the dangers of alcohol

The minimum price is set at a level about what you would normally pay in the pub. It is designed to stop cheap 'happy hour' drinks and cheap supermarket offers. The idea being to reduce the amount that indescriminate boozers can afford to buy.

There is no tax involved, just a minimum that is allowed to be charged.

Therefore sensible drinkers would not pay any more that they do now.

If the current price increases to this new minimum level ALL buyers, whether sensible or otherwise WOULD pay more. Binge drinking often leads to health and disorder issues, both impact unfairly on society at large. There is no evidence that this cap will curb excesses, if it was part of a strategy of education and enforcement then maybe it would make sense, but without cultural plans to change the mind-set of binge drinkers, I believe no there will be no gain, but yet further cost increases for ALL purchasers of alcohol. Please Guernsey HSSD be more clever than the UK and don't rush to follow their legislation too quickly!

A pint = 2 units.

Haven't seen too much for sale at 80p per pint recently.

Exactly

It's not what is right for the UK, it's what's right for Guernsey, and in my opinion, we don't need another set of rules, common sense please, we are individuals, and we don't live in Hampshire South!

I think this is another 'make it look like we are doing something about it' scheme. If it's about the health aspect... alcoholics would sell their granny to get hold of it, regardless of price. If it's the social problems / lawlessness associated with binge drinking... I think stiffer penalties for crimes committed while drunk would be a far better alternative. It's about time that defense lawyers stopped using drunkenness as an excuse for their clients' behavior, too. If anything, an extra fine / sentence should be added for being intoxicated.
Once again, a piece of legislation that will impact the 'innocent' most... the sensible drinker, tourism and the retail industry.

Even if they put a minimum price on alcohol I don't think it will stop binge drinking at weekends because thats the culture at the moment it would be better to educate people on the dangers of binge drinking. The rise would also hit the responsible drinker and I would want to know where the extra revenue that would be created by this tax would go.

IT'S NOT A FLIPPING TAX. Nor is it an increase in normal prices, it is only an increase in minimum prices.

I agree it won't make much, if any, difference to binge drinking so it's not really worth doing.

Robert Broome wrote:Even if they put a minimum price on alcohol I don't think it will stop binge drinking at weekends because thats the culture at the moment it would be better to educate people on the dangers of binge drinking. The rise would also hit the responsible drinker and I would want to know where the extra revenue that would be created by this tax would go.

It will go straight into the pockets of the Super Markets - who already have inflated prices!!!!

It won't go into anyone's pockets. At 40p per unit, it won't make any difference. There is almost no booze priced that low over here.

It is different in the UK, where some supermarkets sell at a loss on certain lines.

As a more affluent society, our minimum would probably need to be higher to have any effect anyway. I am not in favour of more rules without firm need being established - and as others have commented, it is not obvious that it would stop binge drinking. I would keep an open mind in the longer term: if the UK choose to go down that route and it works, we can always reconsider.

In the meantime, I'd query whether the more liberal drinking hours - which were supposed to 'spread out' closing times, but rather seem just to have extended drinking time - are a cause of some of our drink related social problems....

As most young people who are working seem to have greater disposal income than their parents - not too sure this strategy would have much impact on our binge drinking culture.

maybe seeing people in hospital dying of liver failure due to alcohol would stop the binge drinkers

Thistle
When I went into schools teaching young children about alcohol abuse, I used to take a enlarged diseased liver to show them the effects of someone who died of alcoholism, You are absolutely correct the effects indeed had the desired impact.

Sandra - just a thought - how many of those children are still non-drinkers? I ask because my grandson went through all the shock tactics when he was at school - but now drinks like a fish (unfortunately) and that is after lecturing anyone who would care to listen (and those who would not care to listen) about the dangers.....then youth and peer pressure took over!

Well Karma if we aknowledge that scare tactics don't work, then we might as well give up on them altogether as nothing else will work, either logic or economical.

Karma
Not suggesting my sessions led them all on the road to abstinence. But we need to approach education from a number of angles.What works for one may not be successful with another.

We can never underestimate the power of peer group pressure. Young people are influenced and bombarded by a myriad of pressures and influence from media, advertising, celebrities, sports idols - you name it!
Amazing how many survive unscathed.

I was actually asking Sandra if she had any idea how many had taken the lesson learned into later life - not saying that the 'scare tactics' don't work full stop!!! My grandson also had the scare tactics re: smoking - and he is very anti that......so 50/50 isn't too bad.....not exactly a lost cause!!!!

Karma
You are correct the anti-smoking campaign targeted at school children has been very successful. I know many parents who have been influenced by their off springs and stopped smoking.

Regarding alcohol - it does raise huge revenue for Guernsey - so maybe the motivation to reduce alcohol consumption does not have the same appeal.

When you examine the crime rates, violence and unwanted pregnancies attributed to alcohol misuse it beggars belief there is not the equivalent level of education and health promotion activity!

Don't get me wrong I am not anti-drinking however the binge drinking culture emerging in Guernsey is rapidly becoming reflective of the scenes we witness in some areas of the UK.

Sandra - it is a huge issue here in Australia (I thought I had left that behind when I emigrated from Guernsey)... what I fail to understand (given the amount of teens that die in accidents on the road through drink/driving here) is that we have 2 large supermarkets, in direct competition with each other, and they give money back vouchers on sales to offset the price of petrol......here is the weird bit - they will not give you a petrol discount if you have bought cigarettes, but if you have bough alcohol they will!!! work that out!!!!

Sadly what you demonstrate is -'its all about money' not what is morally right!!

Put quite simply more people drink than smoke -drinking is socially acceptable.

As you know its a central nervous depressant - increases confidence and certainly bravado.

I think we have all done daft things when under the influence that we would never dream of in a sober state!!

Wow - letting on too much about myself Just love the icons.

..........IMO we need our grandparents back - to tell us 'everything in moderation' and also governments who govern (not nanny/dictate) and do-gooders who let the government govern without pushing their particular hobby horses at us, when we don't really want to ride on them!!!! Out pricing things they don't want us to have only puts people's antennae up and as granny said....you can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink!!!! One size fits all should never be in a democratic society nearly!!! where will the extra money come from when they stop people smoking and drinking (and eating fatty foods etc etc) no pleasure and all taxes!!!! Someone should remember what started the French Revolution