Alcohol, Minimum Unit Pricing.

[El Cid 220]

i dont want to live healthier thanks, i dont go to the drs much, i dont cause ****, but i enjoy a drink here and there, and far from rolling in cash why should i suffer?

 

How much do you spend on alcohol?

[melthebell 863]

How much do you spend on alcohol?

as little as possible cos i dont have much money, like maybe 6-8 cans / pints on a weekend evening (fri - sun)

[the_bloke 17]

i dont want to live healthier thanks, i dont go to the drs much, i dont cause ****, but i enjoy a drink here and there, and far from rolling in cash why should i suffer?

 

You drink stuff that's less than 50p a unit? What pubs do you go to??

[AmberLeaf 10]

It will have absolutely no effect on alcoholism.

 

I totally agree, if someone wants to drink or do drugs or so on, they'll just nick pricer stuff to fund it.

[melthebell 863]

You drink stuff that's less than 50p a unit? What pubs do you go to??

dont really go to pubs these days, havent for a long time, unless its a gig, or special occasion, far too expensive

[ads36 217]

The proposal is for a minimum price of 50p per unit.

 

What's a pint? About 2.5 Units?

 

The price of a pint will be unaffected.

 

(Even a 4 unit pint of loopy juice would have a minimum price of £2)

 

6 cans a night? Crikey.

[El Cid 220]

I totally agree, if someone wants to drink or do drugs or so on, they'll just nick pricer stuff to fund it.

 

So all potential alcoholics are thieves, or is that once they are hooked?

[phil752 10]

The proposal is for a minimum price of 50p per unit.

 

What's a pint? About 2.5 Units?

 

The price of a pint will be unaffected.

 

(Even a 4 unit pint of loopy juice would have a minimum price of £2)

 

6 cans a night? Crikey.

 

that's the tax of 4X50p then the price of the loopy juice as you put it. Or have I got it wrong?

Edited November 17, 2017 by phil752

[*_ash_* 88]

It is an evidence-based policy though, not just an idea plucked out of thin air. Of course we won't know if it works until it's rolled out properly, but given the massive social and health issues that they're trying to tackle in Scotland, i would say it's worth giving it a go.

 

and if/when it doesn't work, the only people who will reverse it will be the Torys, who will then be accused of trying to murder the poor. It's a good idea in that respect (for the ideologists)

 

Or we continue to flood the market with cheap, horrible, dangerous stuff. One example i heard was a bottle of white cider, costing £4.50, containing 22 units of alcohol. That's just asking for trouble.

 

What is the evidence of what happens to the illegal markets when 'a problem' like this is tried to be solved by government policy?

 

Or we continue to flood the market with unlicensed cheap, horrible, and more dangerous stuff in the hand of criminals. One example i heard was a bottle of white cider, costing £4.50 £3.00, containing 22 units of alcohol crap. That's just asking for trouble.

 

 

http://www.ias.org.uk/Alcohol-knowledge-centre/Price/Factsheets/Minimum-unit-pricing.aspx

 

The above lists the 6 other countries in the world using MUP and some stats on the effects.

 

I only skim read it, but didn't see any rates of increase in people importing or brewing their own stuff.

 

Helping the poor to live healthier lives is ok with me.

 

 

It IS a 'tax' on the poor (and before the ideologists say it ISN'T a tax - because they would be right - but it's ok to use terms like 'bedroom tax' so I think is fair enough) - I would add that the only thing wrong with the policy is that if they are going to roll it out, that it SHOULD be recovered in tax. As it is, the supermarkets will just make more money.

 

Poorly thought out IMO and not a good idea.

[ads36 217]

that's the tax of 4X50p then the price of the loopy juice as you put it. Or have I got it wrong?

 

It's a minimum price, not an additional tax.

 

The price of a pint, in a pub, will be unaffected.

[Harrystottle 10]

I wonder if there will be empty white vans crossing the boarder and coming south

only to return as alcohol laded white vans crossing the boarder travelling north.

 

Yes, it raises the possibility of booze cruises from Edinburgh to Berwick-on-Tweed.

The Aldi in Carlisle will do a roaring trade.

 

On a more serious note, I'm not entirely comfortable with politicians deciding that the way to make us healthier and better people is to make us pay more for something. If pricing per unit for alcohol comes in, why not pricing per calorie on chocolate? Or fat? We are told that we are in the middle of an obesity crisis, after all.

 

Sorry, I don't like this. For all the "it won't affect the price of a good bottle of wine or a pint in a pub" - maybe not yet it won't but the principle has been established, that it is perfectly acceptable to artificially inflate the price of a commodity "for our own good".

[davyboy 19]

I wonder if there will be empty white vans crossing the boarder and coming south

only to return as alcohol laded white vans crossing the boarder travelling north.

Very likely.

I know that people did the booze cruise and sold the stuff on.