EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Minimum pricing for alcohol in Scotland, aimed at improving public health in the northernmost part of the United Kingdom, will be introduced on May 1 next year, Scotland’s devolved government said on Tuesday.
A consultation on the preferred minimum unit price of 50 pence ($0.66) will be published next week, it added.
The minimum price per unit is aimed at cheap, strong alcohol favored by binge-drinkers and tackling a long-standing health problem which is worse in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. The Scottish government won a landmark court case against the Scottish Whisky Association last week allowing it to go ahead with the move.
“With alcohol on sale today at just 18 pence a unit, we have to act to tackle the scourge of cheap, high-strength drink that causes so much damage,” health minister Shona Robison said in a statement.
“Research shows a minimum unit price of 50 pence would cut alcohol-related deaths by 392 and hospital admissions by 8,254 over the first five years of the policy,” she added.
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