Monday 8 December 2008

Ban cheap alcohol and reduce crime and NHS costs

A ban on supermarket and off-licence discount promotions would cut crime by 14,000 offences a year, including 4,000 violent incidents, and reduce absenteeism from work. according to government-funded research from Sheffield University.


The research was commissioned by the Department for Health and looked at 40 separate alcohol policy options, including setting minimum prices per unit. It showed that reducing the quantity of cut-price alcohol on sale can reduce consumption and have significant effects on reducing related crime and ill-health.


The researchers estimated that a 40p per unit minimum price could reduce hospital admissions by 41,000 a year and save the NHS £116m a year in treatment costs. This minimum price level would also reduce crime by 16,000 offences a year.


The report also looked at the impact of a ban on cut-price alcohol promotions in supermarkets and off-licences, and suggested that wine drinkers would be hit hardest by such proposals. It said that a ban on discounts of more than 30%, while effecting wine consumption most, would have little effect on cheaper alcohol, such as lager and beers, selling for less than 30p a unit.


Targeting price increases at cheaper types of alcohol, particularly in bars and pubs where at-risk groups such as younger people do most of their drinking, would have an impact without unduly penalising moderate drinkers.

Read the full feature from The Guardian here
Booze cheaper than water in some superstores!!
Research by the drink and drug charity Addaction shows it costs less to drink alcohol than bottled water at leading supermarkets. Discounted own-brand alcohol is sold for as little as 23p per can, claims the report.

Addaction said proposals which will be announced by the Governmennt later this week may not include measures to stop cheap booze from being sold in supermarkets and off-licenses.
The charity analysed the price of drink from supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA. Although the range of cheap alcohol on offer has shrunk over the past year, shops continue to offer low-cost “value booze”.

Tesco Value lager cost just 23p per can, or 26.1p per unit of alcohol. This was less than the equivalent volume of bottled water. Cider by the three supermarkets cost just 59p per litre, or less than a bottle of coke. The researchers also found that Sainsbury’s and ASDA had two-for-one deals on a well-known brand of 5.2% lager, and that value vodka was being sold for as little as £6.55 per bottle.

Read the full article from TimesOnline here
I also think we should take names of drunks that abuse police, nurses at A&E, ambulance staff, and taxi drivers, etc - and they should get banned from all pubs in the area for a fixed period according to their behaviour. This could easily be agreed with local landlords.

3 comments:

Sheila said...

Thankyou Sir !!
And don't stop trying to get this resolved !
Alcohol is the scourge of society, & seeing as we're all spiralling straight down the freaking toilet,
someone in authority, must do something !

God Bless you !!

Anonymous said...

And who gave the go-ahead on planning and extended hours for the large bars in Aldershot which are used by piss-heads to get pissed?

Why none other than Rushmoor councillors.

Go in some of these bars, they are not pubs, and booze is being actively peddled via promotions.

Anonymous said...

Consider that on a Friday and Saturday night, if you call for Police or an Ambulance there's a good chance you won't get one. Why? Because they're dealing with drink related crime and accidents. Ask any local Police officer, Ambulance tech or paramedic or call handler and you'll see why I suggest:

1. Anyone arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct should be required to pay (financially) for the resources required to make them safe.

2. Anyone presenting in A&E in a drunk and/or disorderly state should be required to pay (again, financially) for the resources to tend to them.

Funds raised should go to providing more mobile police units and ambulances for the rest of us who may need them whilst the current ones are tied up handling those with arguably self-inflicted injuries.

Do you agree or not?