Scotland to make boozing more expensive

03 March 2009

In a controversial attempt to reduce growing alcoholism, the Scottish government yesterday announced plans to clamp down on low-price alcohol sales and fix a minimum price per unit of alcohol.

Edinburgh said cut-price deals that encourage bulk buying, such as 'three for the price of two' offers, would be banned. The display and marketing of alcohol too would be restricted to certain areas in stores.

The measures were outlined in a 42-page action plan called Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol, after figures showed Scots to be the 8th heaviest drinkers in the world.

The plans were launched at a Glasgow hospital to underline the estimated 2.25-billion-pound cost of alcohol misuse in Scotland. Figures published last week showed that the number of hospital treatments for alcohol-related conditions hit a record 42,430 in 2007-2008.

Researchers found that almost 1,500 Scots were dying per year from alcohol-related problems.

Sales figures showed nearly 50 million litres of pure alcohol were drunk in 2007 - 11.8 litres for every person aged over 16. That is the equivalent of everyone over 16 drinking 570 pints of beer, or 125 bottles of wine, or 42 bottles of vodka.