Booze price rise moves met with mixed response (From Worcester News)
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Crime-fuelled drinking targeted
7:40am Thursday 29th November 2012 in Worcester By Neil Watts
Booze price rise moves met with mixed response
PLANS to increase the minimum unit price of alcohol have been met with a mixed response in Worcester.
The Home Office is proposing a cost of at least 45p per unit in a bid to tackle problem drinking, put an end to multi-buy offers at supermarkets and off-licences, improve health and reduce crime.
A 10-week consultation has been rolled out with a price 5p higher than suggested by ministers in March.
The ban on cheap booze was not favoured by Toby Scaria, owner of Deeway Stores, Teme Road, Tolladine, Worcester, who was concerned his business would suffer.
He said: “That’s too much, I am not happy with it at all. If it is increased like that then my customers will try to get it somewhere else.
“You are concerned if people can afford it.”
However, Jasbir Singh, owner of Harrys Wines in London Road, welcomed the idea. “Most of my alcohol prices are within that guideline already – at about 40 to 50p.
"It should be a good thing as it would give everybody a reasonable share of the market.”
Mark Haslam, of Camra (Campaign for Real Ale), believes it could be a boost to the struggling pub industry.
“Such a measure would be supportive of pubs because supermarkets are selling alcohol at cost prices or certainly using it as a loss leader.
"The consequences are more people drinking at home and more importantly creating social harm in terms of health and anti-social behaviour.”
The Government believes the price will reduce alcohol consumption by 3.3 per cent, cut the number of crimes by 5,000 per year and hospital admissions by 24,000 as well as there being 700 fewer alcohol-linked deaths annually.
According to the department, the public purse stands to lose about £200 million in excise duty due to falling sales and it would cost £500,000 to enforce the rules.
However, it estimates the health benefits will be worth more than £400 million each year and the reduction in crime nearly £13 million.
Neither NHS Worcestershire nor the Worcestershire Drug and Alcohol Team were able to comment.
l A unit of alcohol is half a pint of standard strength (3.5 per cent) beer, cider or lager, a single 25ml measure of spirit or half a standard 175ml glass of wine.
Comments(14)
Arthur Blenkinsop
says...
8:16am Thu 29 Nov 12
mayall8808
says...
9:43am Thu 29 Nov 12
If you get blasted (Drunk) its your own doing so if you need medical help or you get involved with the police due to being drunk then you should have to pay in full for the time and treatment you get, the rest of us taxpayers should not be paying for your irresponsibility.
Yes go and have a good time but show some respect to others as well as yourself.
Guy66
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9:44am Thu 29 Nov 12
Guy66
says...
9:45am Thu 29 Nov 12
mayall8808 wrote:110% behind this - now where did I put that brandy?
It will achieve nothing, the drunks will still drink no matter what and the responsible people will get to shoulder the cost?
If you get blasted (Drunk) its your own doing so if you need medical help or you get involved with the police due to being drunk then you should have to pay in full for the time and treatment you get, the rest of us taxpayers should not be paying for your irresponsibility.
Yes go and have a good time but show some respect to others as well as yourself.
Hwicce
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9:54am Thu 29 Nov 12
cnutcjh
says...
9:57am Thu 29 Nov 12
Isn't it about time people were able to choose a safe alternative to the killer booze, without fear of government stormtroopers kicking their doors in?
Now let me think, what natural, safe, useful & good for you substance could fit the bill? Oh I know, how about legalising cannabis like they're doing in North & South America and various places in Europe?
PS. you know all those bad things government tell you about cannabis? They're lying.....educate yourselves.
Vox populi
says...
12:02pm Thu 29 Nov 12
2.) If retailers in bars and clubs increase their prices further to maintain their profit margins they are the only ones who will loose out. Are we in a recession anyone?
3.) It won't reduce drinking
4.) Largest impact is Mr Family man who picks up a bottle of red on the way home on a Friday to drink responsibly with his wife. - Look at the prices and units…
Dare I say it starts with education, parenting and attitude but that’s far harder to tackle than pricing things and making money eh
pinkfluff
says...
12:52pm Thu 29 Nov 12
Vox populi wrote:Exactly!!! And as Mayall has pointed out any chaos that ensues after a drunken night out should be paid for, including police/paramedic/hos
1.) Those smashed people puking in your town centres at 3am are already paying well above this for their alcohol anyway. 2.) If retailers in bars and clubs increase their prices further to maintain their profit margins they are the only ones who will loose out. Are we in a recession anyone? 3.) It won't reduce drinking 4.) Largest impact is Mr Family man who picks up a bottle of red on the way home on a Friday to drink responsibly with his wife. - Look at the prices and units… Dare I say it starts with education, parenting and attitude but that’s far harder to tackle than pricing things and making money eh
pital staff time....all of it!
To the pro cannabis group- banging on about it at any given oppertunity is counterproductive. zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Vox populi
says...
1:22pm Thu 29 Nov 12
The 18 age limit on alcohol becomes a rite of passage along with becoming a student or getting a job…
It’s a culture that is often counter productive, parents prevent their kids from drinking and then they go mad when they look old enough. In French culture a glass of wine with a meal from an earlyish age is the norm - strange they don't have a binge drinking culture like us.
Culture - the hardest thing to change, banning alco pops, raising prices etc is all just noise…
Oh and I would happily see cannabis legalised with the correct measures to test for it in drivers, support and tax its legal sale.
worcswolf
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2:04pm Thu 29 Nov 12
New Kid on the Block
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2:30pm Thu 29 Nov 12
Do the Supermarkets make even more money or will it go to paying for the nanny state?
waddle
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5:19pm Thu 29 Nov 12
Saturn V
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9:59pm Thu 29 Nov 12
How old is that photo?
spider666
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5:55pm Fri 30 Nov 12
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