Introduction. Due to the multi-buy promotions, such as two for the price one, the government consider of minimum price of alcohol. There are serious concerns that minimum pricing will impact upon the poorest in society to extent than the rest, while lining the pockets of producers, brewers and retailers rather than raise much-needed tax revenues.
Minimum Unit Pricing (setting a minimum price below which a unit of alcohol cannot legally be sold) was approved by the Scottish Parliament in 2012. However, within the UK strongly opposed views have been presented regarding the likely benefits, and in addition Scotland has faced a legal challenge on its legislation, delaying its implementation.
States in Canada which have used minimum pricing have a history of prohibition, and the Nordic countries have a tradition of selling alcohol through government-owned shops. That's why the example of Scotland will be watched closely. On the other hand, some question the efficacy of minimum pricing on economic grounds.
Minimum unit pricing (MUP) is an intervention that raises the price of the cheapest alcohol to reduce alcohol consumption and related harms. There is a growing literature on industry's influence in policymaking and media representations of policies, but relatively little about frames used by key claim-makers in the public MUP policy debate.
For example, a study by of the government regulated minimum alcohol prices in British Columbia found that a 10.0% increase in the average minimum price of all alcoholic beverages was associated with an 8.95% decrease in acute alcohol-attributable admissions and a 9.22% reduction in chronic alcohol-attributable admissions 2 years later.
Overview: implementation of minimum pricing for alcohol 1. Minimum pricing is a key measure in the Scottish Government's alcohol strategy, and will set a price below which alcohol cannot be sold. Alcoholic drinks which are priced at less than the minimum price per unit at the date of implementation (1 st May 2018) will need to increase.