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So they have found that no matter how poor someone is, if they want to abuse alcohol they will, and as a matter of fact, the poor are more likely to abuse alcohol than the rich. By what logic is raising the price going to make things better? Who are they trying to help?

Hey if poor people spend their money irresponsibly then surely were should be pushing for cuts in the dole and increases in the low rate of income tax! <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

&amp;quot;sbillings&amp;quot;:a9jja9xi wrote: By what logic is raising the price going to make things better?[/quote:a9jja9xi]The WHO said so. Ipse dixit.

&amp;quot;Health Research Board&amp;quot;:a9jja9xi wrote: Effective policies include: increasing the price of alcohol*
[size=85:a9jja9xi]*World Health Organization (2009) Evidence of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe[/url:a9jja9xi][/size:a9jja9xi].[/quote:a9jja9xi]

I think everybody here is not in favor of minimum pricing,me included,however when I was in my local Tesco,they are selling hobgoblin at 1.35 euro a bottle. Now for that i am not complaining but I am wondering if this clearly below cost selling is just an attempt to force out the local competition. Not really a good thing in the long run I think we all could agree on.

Interesting. It refers to a wealth of evidence and claims that it is incontrovertible, but does not give any figures. I wrote this article[/url:2kjfcaro] a few years ago after examining figures for Ireland and found that duty increases don't seem to have any effect on sales at all.

I think the most interesting question is this: If more expensive alcohol means less problem drinking, then when can we expect to see some improvement? We have had some of the highest alcohol prices in Europe for generations and we are still talking about it. It's the same in the UK. If the cure works, why is the patient still sick?

Plainly, we haven't let a sufficient amount of blood yet.

More leeches!