Minimum pricing for alcohol is not a “silver bullet” to cure alcohol misuse in Scotland, the health secretary admitted yesterday.
Alex Neil defended the Scottish Government’s plans when he was urged to bring forward “meaningful action” to tackle the harm caused by over-drinking.
At the beginning of the week, it emerged that around 20 people die each week due to alcohol abuse north of the border.
Highland Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said, given that the death rate was still higher than in England and Wales and that minimum pricing was tied up in the courts, would Mr Neil “come forward with meaningful action to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland”.
Specifically, she wanted him to back legislation proposed by Labour MSPs Richard Simpson and Graeme Pearson to promote public health and reduce alcohol-related offending.
Mr Neil said it was a “bit rich” for anyone from the Labour party, with its opposition to minimum pricing, to demand action.
“We have never claimed that minimum pricing is a single silver bullet, but it is prerequisite to breaking the back of the problem of alcohol misuse in Scotland,” he said.
He drew her attention to research linking cheap alcohol with abuse.
He said the government’s framework for action contained over 40 measures to cut consumption, support families and communities, encourage more positive attitudes and choices, and improve treatment and support services.
MSPs heard that Ireland and Estonia had adopted a policy on minimum pricing similar to Scotland and the measure had the “whole-hearted support” of the World Health Organisation. “There is no doubt that the almost unanimous view, not just among health professionals in Scotland but, increasingly, among governments and health professionals in Europe, is that minimum pricing is the right policy for pursuing our objective of reducing the harm that is caused by alcohol abuse,” he said.