Scotland Alcohol Initiatives: A New Hope for Sobriety
[scriptless]Fixing Scotland’s Alcohol Problem
It is a sad fact that many people in Scotland are facing a day-to-day battle with drug and alcohol abuse.
Scotland is known for having an entrenched drinking culture, where, for a large percentage of the population, drug use and alcohol consumption have become an everyday part of life. Unfortunately, Scotland’s alcohol issues have led many to see their intake change from a social drink with friends or colleagues at weekends to becoming a regular occurrence. It is not too hard to see a drug or alcohol problem get out of control and take over a person’s life, just as it has for hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
However, over the years, various steps have been taken to try and combat the problem. The Scottish government has considered different plans and propositions to find a solution to the seemingly ever-increasing problem of alcohol abuse in Scotland. What can be done to try and reduce the number of people living with alcoholism or cutting down how much people drink? This is also helping resolve some of the problems commonly associated with alcohol, such as public intoxication, assault, and cases of domestic abuse.
It is an issue that affects a cross-section of the population and has crossed the political divide. There have been many suggestions on dealing with the situation, from monitoring licensing laws to changing pub opening times. However, one of the most important steps took place in 2012 when the Scottish government considered bringing in minimum unit pricing for alcohol to curb drinking. Initially, the Scottish Conservative Party was opposed to the plan. Still, the leader Ruth Davidson eventually gave her support, if the SNP would repeal the legislation in a period of five years if it didn’t pan out. These were alongside questions or objections from the other political parties.
However, the Scottish government saw minimum unit pricing on alcohol as essential for dealing with the rise of alcohol abuse in Scotland, thus cutting down the mass availability of cheap, strong alcohol.
The Scottish Parliament originally passed the Alcohol Minimum Pricing (Scotland) Bill in May 2012, although it was held back when the Scotch Whisky Association brought legal action.
The Bill has now become law and came into effect on the 1st of May, 2018. Scotland now has minimum alcohol pricing. This designates the lowest possible price an alcoholic drink can be sold for in Scotland, which has been set 50p per unit.
You should be aware that stronger drinks that have more alcohol units have a greater minimum price than those with a smaller amount of alcohol. Drinks with a higher minimum price can range from those with a larger volume, such as strong white cider, own-brand gin and vodka, along with super-strength lager.
Minimum alcohol pricing aims to help hardened drinkers who may be causing the most harm to themselves and may be in the worst health. It is felt increasing the price of alcohol may dissuade some people from buying too much.
One year on, we hope to see positive results from this change in the law, and it will be interesting to note its impact when the NHS Health Scotland Monitoring Report is released within the next few weeks.
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Sources
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-17297292
