The price of a drink: the potential of alcohol minimum unit pricing as a public health measure in the UK

Peter Rice, Colin Drummond

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The UK has seen a dramatic increase in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm over the past 30 years. Alcohol taxation has long been considered a key method of controlling alcohol-related harm but a combination of factors has recently led to consideration of methods which affect the price of the cheapest alcohol as a means of improved targeting of alcohol control measures to curb the consumption of the heaviest drinkers. Although much of the evidence in favour of setting a minimum price of a unit of alcohol is based on complex econometric models rather than empirical data, all jurisdictions within the UK now intend to make selling alcohol below a set price illegal, which will provide a naturalistic experiment allowing assessment of the impact of minimum pricing.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)169-171
Number of pages3
JournalBritish Journal of Psychiatry
Volume201
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2012

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The price of a drink: the potential of alcohol minimum unit pricing as a public health measure in the UK'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this