The Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced a 50 pence per unit target minimum through the Minimum Pricing Scotland Bill. See BBC and Telegraph reports and a Guardian Data blog interactive graphic on its impact.
Announcing the decision, Nicola Sturgeon said:
"Too many Scots are drinking themselves to death. The problem affects people of all walks of life. It’s no coincidence that as affordability has increased, alcohol-related hospital admissions have quadrupled, and it is shocking that half of our prisoners now say they were drunk when they committed the offence... Introducing a minimum price per unit will enable us to tackle these problems, given the clear link between affordability and consumption." > > > > Read More