Minimum pricing can be very effective in reducing demand for cheap high-strength alcohol amid concerns about affordability fuelling problematic drinking - according to a study on the impact of the measure during the COVID lockdown. As a flat-rate form of minimum prices applying to all alcohol products based on their alcohol content, Scotland and Wales were among the first countries in the world to implement a MUP policy in 2018 and 2020, respectively. However, this is not the pattern they observed over the full six months after the MUP introduction in Wales. Similarly, as in Scotland, MUP appears to have had a persistent demand-dampening effect on cheap alcohol. Wales and Scotland used their devolved powers to introduce the same MUP, at fifty pence per alcohol unit (50ppu), applicable to all beverages.

Source: The Times June 06, 2024 17:24 UTC