Alcohol is too cheap, and treatment is underfunded
Addaction’s response to the Home Secretary’s speech on alcohol and related crimes (you can also read a press release on this issue, available here).
Addaction, one of the UK’s leading drug and alcohol treatment charities, says that changing the licensing laws is only going some way in addressing Britain’s binge drinking culture.
The charity believes that there are two key underlying issues to the country’s drink problems that need addressing: a lack of funding for treatment and the sale of heavily discounted alcohol.
The comments come on the back of the Home Secretary’s speech on anti-social behaviour, given in London today
Simon Antrobus, Addaction’s Chief Executive, says: “Before people hit the bars and pubs they often ‘preload’ with cheap alcohol bought from supermarkets; available throughout the day. This alcohol is almost always available to them at rock bottom prices.
“A change to way alcohol is priced will certainly have an affect on the amount our country is drinking. All of us - even responsible drinkers - are paying a premium for this level of consumption. Public services, such as the police or accident and emergency departments, are continually under pressure from alcohol related problems. And this costs us dear.”
Antrobus expands on the pricing issue: “Minimum pricing only benefits the suppliers. Make the extra revenue raised as a result of the tax an alcohol treatment levy. This revenue could then be fed back into the much needed treatment of alcohol dependency.”
The treatment for alcohol in the UK lags behind that which is currently available for drug misuse, despite the fact that the cost of alcohol abuse to society is in the region of £17 – 24 billion per annum. Also, a recent study identified a 24 per cent increase in the number of dependent drinkers between 2000 and 2007. The charity believes that this should be a priority area for the government:
Antrobus says:”There are a good number of treatment centres across the country, but not nearly enough. Waiting lists for treatment can extend for months. The range of interventions that Addaction offer dependent drinkers and their families have proved to be effective, but we need the funding to do so much more.”
As well as changing the pricing policy, the charity believes that our bars and restaurants need to encourage more responsible drinking and see the end of ‘all you can drink for a tenner’ binge drinking culture.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 3rd, 2010 at 10:38 am
The problem is not to do wih the cost of alcohol or ‘all you can drink for a tenner’.
On the continent you can buy beer wine and spirits very very cheaply. Why is there not a huge alcohol problem in these countries. The answer is culture and that drinking has become engranid in our society - this is the root cause. In the rest of the world we are thought of as drinking far too much.
The question is how can we change our culture surrounding this.
August 5th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Hello Addaction,
Raising the price of alcohol will force alcohol users (whether addicts or bingers) to be more out of pocket than they are already. This will create another inequality , which may encourage the use of other drugs. Lets think this through, please Addaction, don’t just go with whatever ‘the government’ says.