Minimum Price on Alcohol
 

What do people think?

Are you in favour of the 45p per unit proposal, or do you think it is the wrong solution to alcohol related problems?

If people are daft enough to keep drinking until they fall over then they need all the help they can get in order to "abstain" ... sounds like a plan :thumb: Will only effect the Big Grocers though surely as pub drink is way more expensive than 45p a unit :eek:

TX.

Do you genuinely think it will make those types of people abstain? If people have the mindset that they want to get out of their head drunk, surely they will regardless of whether the unit price goes up? :wonder:

I just feel that this is going to hit the general population in the pocket yet again, while not really dealing with the anti-social aspects of drinking (to excess).

Well Tesco are selling 36 cans of Becks for £21 :eek: a 440ml can has 2.26 units in it so 36 cans = 81.36 units. At 45p per unit it would cost £36.61 or 1.74 times as much. The undesirables would run out of beer money fairly quick imho.

TX.

Edit - they also sell 4 cans of Special Brew for £7.09 :lol1: 4 units in each can so it would increase to £7.20 ... great news for the tramps then.

Yes, they would run out of beer money more quickly, but is it really fair that the majority of the population who can control themselves would have to pay an extra £15.61, using your example?

The other worry in my mind, is that, if the prices increase so undesirables are priced out, they will just find cheap booze elsewhere. Probably dodgy stuff mixed with god knows what. The result being, none of the anti-social behaviour is tackled and there are even greater health risks.

Raising the price wont change a thing.

Didn't make any difference to smokers (I am one) so why would it work for drinkers?

Largest majority of heavy drinkers can afford it anyway. It's only the poor and young who will be affected.

Mavis, in her 60s, who has "just the one", actually spends her pension and her children's inheritance on booze every day, that is the problem. She drinks a whole bottle of whiskey a day, every day.

Should be interesting as apparently this violates EU single market regs. Watch this space...

+1 price fixing totally illegal, as above big can of worms being opened

You honestly think the undesirables with their fine upstanding morals won't resort to other means of affording the price increase. Round here they will simply stop feeding their kids :(

Example for a typical drug/drink addict

Raise the price in alcohol will only mean your typical drunk/coke head will end up more desperate to get their fix meaning they will go out and steal more from innocent members of public

Example for sensible drinkers

Raise the price and most people will give you the two finger salute

Example for a clubber who gets wasted every weekend

Raise the price, they will still go out but eventually end up in debt when they realise how much its just cost them to get wasted so they will end up going to payday loans, bank loans, loan sharks

Raising the price causes problems and dont solve them. If they wanna look after those that are addicted to drink/coke make help more acceseable

Keep the prices down will allow the sensible ones to carry on with a good social life


Binge drinkers all realise where the limit is eventually


This all equals more money being injected into the enconomy with a few coke/drink addicts getting the help they need

The issue is not the cost of alcohol, it's our view of if and the way in which we use it. A cultural shift is needed not an economic one. If it gets too pricey I can see home brew taking off, otherwise people with just do without something else to get the booze. The price by itself will not do anything.

Very good point.
Obviously this would not apply to the homeless.
I agree with your other points as well.
It is (to all intents and purposes) socially acceptable to be drunk in public. Bit of a northern European disease IMO.

Its just another government money making scheme.
These greedy self serving politicians will do anything they can get away with. The alcoholics won't change their ways, so the government will therefore raise more revenue to pay for their over inflated expense accounts.

Good news for brewers who sell drink at just over 45p a unit. They won't have to up their prices and some will think "I might as well spend the extra 10p and drink something that tastes nice rather than Viking* lager."

* other cheap booze is available.

Personally I don't look for beer at 45p / unit, and normally buy 3 cases when on offer in the supermarket, that lasts about 6 months. Will be annoying that those multi buys will stop. I'm not the intended target.

Overall though I think it will deter some drinkers, whoever said the cost of cigarettes hasn't caused some people to give up is wrong, I know several where that has been a significant factor.

I reckon I agree with my Mrs here. She says that the prices of alcohol and fags are eleastic. You raise the price, the amount consumed drops, but within months will be back where it started, just making more money for the government/shops/producers.

Then the government will moan that inflation has gone up.

And it's been clearly shown that you cannot tax something out of existence, since the thick tw@s that run government take the extra money and spend it, then, when the consumption decreases, they find a hole in the taxation budget:rolleyes:

We then have the ludicrous show of one government department trying to STOP smoking/drinking/driving cars, and another having to condone it.

You couldn't make it up....

Oh, and with alcohol?
Raise the price, and we'll just see the booze cruisers coming back. Good news for the ferries;)

While I understand there are lots of problems associated with the problems of drinking too much, but I would tackle it a different way, as I don't feel simply raising the cost of alcohol will fix anything.
I would try to reduce the costs of alcohol related issues by making people responsible for their own actions, by if you go to hospital with an alcohol related issues then you have to pay for the services you receive. Also if your caught throwing up in a public place then you can be fined (which I believe happens in some counties more than others)

Richard

Increase in the crime rate by the cider-drinking scumbags. Cutting down will be their very last option.

It won't make 'those types' abstain - they will simply find ways to 'raise' cash

I guess its a real money spinner for the the government though

This ^^^^^

Another government headline stealer with zero real thought having gone into it!

I do not care as long as they keep the coffee price down.

I went to my pub last night, ordered a pint and said "well a couple of units - should be around 90p then?"

It didn't work :(

dl

The other thing that hasn't been mentioned is this will encourage under the counter dodgy imports from France. Why pay the Gvmt when you can get it from Dave down the road from the back of his knackered Transit

I don't think it will do anything to deter the dyed in the wool alcoholics. They will get hold of alcohol by any means even if it means not eating!

It is of course a good way to make more cash for our leaders!

Les

Quality isn't it, the government who are telling us we need to have a minimum price for alcohol are drinking in the commons bar for virtually free while we the tax payer subsidise all thier drinking :)

It doesn't affect me, so not bothered.

I asked some substance abuse workers the other day about what they thought of this .45p price rise business. Their answer was that it will make no difference to the hard core, prolematic alkys. They'll stay cold, empty stomach and still find a way to feed their addiction. To those qualified workers, the solution is to ban the alcohol, full stop. They agree with the findings of Professor Nutt & Co. that alcohol is more harmful than any other drug.

I asked them- "What about good alcohol drinkers? Why should they suffer?" They said that the good ones can smoke an occasional spliff or do occasional magic mushies, but improve their environment/way of thinking etc. so that they don't get hooked on these less harmful than alcohol but still harmful sh!te either.

who gets any extra generated income from the ridiculous scheme.

i heard its in part aimed at youngsters, but they go out out to clubs where a vodka and redbull is a fiver a drink!! and most drinks are totally over priced. now a regular bottle of wine will be minimum £4.70 odds, how many are cheaper than that?

its totally ridiculous, unworkable idea imo. education education education aimed at kids, pre drinking age is the best way to combat it. there will always be those who drink excessivley, by nature being drunk encourages more consumption to an extent, esp for inexperienced drinkers.

scrap this, save the money and come up with something a bit more workable

There is part of me that thinks we would be better off without it entirely, drinking is enjoyable in moderation but people dont do moderation, they dont understand less is more, they chase that lovely two pint buzz, they drink and drink until they pass out, I am by no means immune but on balace, is it worth the trouble it causes ?

Would be a shame for the responsible drinkers and the birth rate would drop, somethign needs to happen, watching that thing about the Police in Blackpool brings it home, the agro it causes, fights, rapes, illness, death, accidents and general stupidity.

Trouble is, this government cant think of anything other than putting prices up and again hitting those of us who behave responsibly but maybe it may make people think that perhaps drinkign less, less often etc maybe a good idea.

education is where its at mate, atleast then you choose to drink with an understanding of the consequences. making it less socially acceptable, and talking about alcohol as a dangerous drug, helps youngsters fear it more - no bad thing

but in this country they still choose to seperate drink and drugs - motorway signs "dont take drugs and drive, dont drink an drive" ect ect. stop segregatting alcohol from other drugs, include it in terminology atleast as drugs - why is it still seperated from drug abuse???? its beyond me.
it just re-inforces the publics perception that alcohol is not a drug? why would we encourage that?