Question by The octopus: Is putting a minimum price on alcohol an effective way of reducing binge drinking in the UK?
Is putting a minimum price on alcohol an effective way of reducing binge drinking in the UK?
Arguments for both sides, why is it and why isn’t it?
Best answer:
Answer by vieu_cerf
no, education is.
Give your answer to this question below!
no because people will buy more of it thus creating more binge drinking because it is easier to get ahold of.
yes because, well there isn’t a yes, it would just spark more binge drinking
Hope I helped!:)
No.
Price controls and similar dis-incentives ahve been shown to lessen casual use and occasionaly to cut down on the number of new habitual users annually, but to have no effect on the over-consumer or the long-time user. The best modern case-in-point is the USA’s taxes and penalty charges on cigarettes. Anyone who smokes a pack per day or more still smokes a pack per day, they just grumble about the price more, but they still pay it.
Binge drinkers are definitely in the “heavy user” category.
It depends on the method used. If it raises the price in the pub as well as in the store equally, people will buy the cheaper booze in the store and attempt to drink more before going out or not go out. This leads to more binge drinking.
If the price just raises the store prices, but leaves pub prices alone, people will tend to drink when going out, rather than at home. In the US at least, there is some incentive for a bartender to cut off the heaviest of drinkers, so the net effect is a reduction of binge drinking. A good bartender will keep the grossest offenders in line.
Either way, increasing the price will reduce consumption, as per John Stuart Mill. While habitual, mature drinkers will not be effected much, other than a down grading of the quality of what they drink, new drinkers will be less likely to drink, if it is more expensive. An example of this can be found in the US cigarette taxes. They make scant difference for adults, but have sharply reduced the number of younger smokers, as few kids can afford a pack a day. Higher alcohol taxes will most likely increase marijuana use as well.
It would be a start but it won’t have any effect on the binge drinking culture of the UK.What chance have we got when supermarkets are selling alcohol cheaper than bottled water. It’s education,for young people and adults,that’s needed if we are to have any chance of tackling this issue. In towns,cities and villages across the UK,the sign of a great night out is if you can’t remember what you did the night before.What a load of nonsense!
Did raising the cost of cigarettes reduce deaths linked to smoking? No. So i very much doubt that raising prices will have any effect.
If we are serious at trying to address this issue,then we have to stop glamorising alcohol.Look at every soap on TV-the main focal point is always the pub,where there’s no repercussions for those who seem to be able to afford to drink every day. Oh yeah,except Phil and his ‘alcoholism’-it just seems a side issue.
What about ‘freshers’ week at uni? Where students are encouraged to get as drunk as they can for a whole week……..
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Drinks companies should be forced to contribute to the NHS.