Price control vital to cut drink problems

Sir Ian Good, chairman of Famous Grouse maker Edrington, is concerned that the introduction of a minimum price on alcohol will have deleterious effects on Scottish industry (Business, 2 July). I fully appreciate his commitment to his shareholders and the maintenance of the excellent marketing position of one of Scotland's most profitable businesses and its contribution to exports.

However, facts must be faced. We recently learned that one in four of all men aged 35 to 44 in Scotland dies of an alcohol attributable condition; the number of people diagnosed with alcoholic liver disease has risen by 52 per cent since 1998; A&E departments in Scotland deal with more than 70 alcohol-related assaults a day; and alcohol-related problems are estimated to cost Scotland more than 2 billion a year. The chief constable of Strathclyde Police recently stated: "Cheap drink is fuelling crime in Scotland."

This burden of disease and social problems is closely related to the amount of alcohol a population consumes. Abundant evidence shows that the most effective and cost-effective way of reducing consumption and harm is increasing the price of alcohol relative to disposable income. In the past, major retailers have been able to absorb tax increases on alcohol by below-cost selling. However, the most effective measure is the one so roundly opposed by Sir Ian – a minimum pricing policy.

We cannot go on drinking more and more without incurring an ever-increasing health and social cost burden. Unpalatable as it may seem, a minimum pricing policy is likely to be far more effective than any amount of education, exhortation or attempts to change the national moral climate.

BRUCE RITSON

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems

Queen Street

Edinburgh