Cost of alcohol

Your leader on minimum unit pricing (“European challenge on alcohol must be resisted”, 26 July) is a useful summary of the issues. However, it may be worth pointing out that as far back as 2008 (at the time of the original consultation on the policy) ­organisations such as ours strongly argued that it was simply too open to legal challenge both at UK and European levels. The Scottish Government ignored these objections and pressed ahead only to encounter the inevitable legal obstacles.

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation is part of a stakeholder group in Edinburgh which has established the first Community Alcohol Partnership in Scotland. Educating young people on the risks and consequences of harmful drinking is a key aim of the partnership.

The cost of alcohol-related harm in our communities is still too high, but ultimately it is education targeted at specific groups which will prove to be most effective in changing Scotland’s relationship with alcohol rather than ineffective whole-of-population approaches such as minimum pricing. 

John Drummond

Chief executive

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Queensferry Road

Edinburgh