Would Minimum Alcohol Price Stop Binge Drinking?

Would Minimum Alcohol Price Stop Binge Drinking?

Although this policy seems dead in the water after senior cabinet ministers have opposed it claiming it a tax on the poor would it have solved the England’s binge drinking problem?  The basic plan was to impose a 45p per unit minimum price in alcohol to prevent binge drinking and even possible make the pubs competitive again. Nevertheless, would it work?

Well it will mean that supermarket will have to charge a few extra pounds on their multipack deals.  Currently at Morrison’s you can get 30 cans of 1.7 unit John Smiths for £19, with the minimum unit price of 45p per unit this would cost £22.95 for the same deal, meaning this will cost people an extra £3.95. This is not that much for middle and higher income families, but it is a substantial rise for those who are already struggling.  Away from the multipack deals, the price of cheap spirits and ciders would be massively affected, with the price of a bottle of Asda’s own 70cl bottle of vodka rising by £3.21 from £8.49 to £11.70.  The question is whether a rise of just over £3 will dissuade binge drinkers who have an unhealthy lust for alcohol.  It is likely you will need to raise the price of drink in nightclubs as well to solve the problem of binge drinking.  Although the University has done research that says a minimum alcohol price would reduce alcohol consumption by 4.3%, leading to 2000 fewer deaths and 66,000 hospital admissions after 10 years.  The research also suggests crimes would drop by 24,000 over the same period.

However, binge drinking is only an epidemic among young people. In any case a minimum alcohol price is going to disproportionately affect the poor, this makes the policy unfair as those with money can still binge drink while those without cannot drink at all.  In addition, binge drinking is just as bad amongst the middle class as the working class except the policy does not affect them in such a severe way as it does the working class.  A better policy would be to have harsher penalties for drunk and disorderly behaviour you could also ban drinks offers in nightclubs, as this is where most of the binge drinking is done, so it will mainly affect binge drinkers rather than poor people who want a drink.  People who end up in hospital or in the cells overnight through binge drinking could pay a fee to contribute to their care a bit like a binge drinkers tax, this policy is probably the best way to combat binge drinking as it only  affects binge drinkers rather than those who drink responsibly.  At the end of the day you can’t put through legislation which will affect the masses when only a small group of people are causing the problem, it is also a problem most people grow out of anyway and if they don’t legislate in a way that only affects the trouble causing minority rather than the majority.

In conclusion I don't believe a minimum alcohol price would even come close to stopping binge drinking. I believe it would probably lower it but it would also make alcohol to expensive for the working poor and it would not solve the problem while having a drastic affect on moderate drinkers wallets.  If the government want to combat binge drinking they need to look at policies like the ones above which target binge drinkers more than moderate drinkers which a minimum alcohol price just doesn't do.