Leader: Alcohol policy should aim for moderation, not stigma

Published on Tuesday 31 August 2010 15:31

No-one could argue that Scotland is in need of yet more reports on the costs and dangers of alcohol abuse. It is solutions that are now urgently needed. That is the key concern of the report just out from the Alcohol Commission set up by the Scottish Labour Party. How does it shape up?

Its main recommendation is that there should be a "floor price" for alcohol set at UK level - a proposal that the SNP administration immediately denounced as passing the buck to Westminster. The Commission recommends a UK-wide ban on alcohol sales below the total cost of production, duty and VAT; a possible levy on alcohol retailers to help pay for alcohol-related services; a limit on the number of licences in each area and a halt to the sponsorship of sporting events by drinks companies. In addition it recommends, as a means of changing the culture around drinking, not serving alcohol at official functions.

There is good sense in most of these proposals. In particular, the call for UK-wide action on a minimum floor price or variant thereof would make for ease of implementation across the UK rather than a patchwork quilt of different pricing regimes. It would also avoid resort to arbitrage and distortion of sales and distribution as individuals sought to find ways around a Scotland-only minimum pricing regime.

The report also emphasises the need for a multi-pronged approach rather than focusing on one particular measure as the cure-all. Sustained education programmes here are paramount, as well as measures aimed at changing the culture of indulgence around drinking.

However, a wholesale ban on alcohol at official council and government events could soon prove self-defeating. A Scottish administration that was obliged to be totally dry in public would encounter obvious problems and anomalies.

What would constitute an "official" event, exactly? Could no drink be offered to visiting French or Japanese government officials and trade representatives?

More dangerously, moving from a policy of moderation with soft drinks offered alongside wines and spirits to one of total prohibition would give rise to the impression that no-one in Scotland could be safe with a drink and that we cannot be trusted to drink sensibly. Such a policy could quickly become a stigma and a cause for national embarrassment. It would also fuel the most imaginative schemes of evasion.

It is persistent alcohol abuse that we need to tackle and moderate consumption we wish to encourage. The Commission and the administration would do well to focus on policies that serve this end - and to move with urgency. We are saturated with reports on the depth and extent of the problem we face. We are in need, not of a one-club approach, but a suite of determined, positive and effective actions.