ALCOHOL experts in the Capital want the Government to impose inflation-busting price rises and ban large glasses of wine to help tackle binge drinking.
Ministers recently proposed a wide-ranging overhaul of alcohol laws, which includes a minimum price for drink in supermarkets and off-licences and raising the minimum age at which alcohol can be bought in shops to 21.
Action on Alcohol and Drugs i
n Edinburgh (AADE), a partnership of key bodies including the council, police and NHS Lothian, today broadly welcomed the plans, but called for further restrictions.
The Government has suggested a 35p minimum price per unit of alcohol, however the AADE said it should be as high as 50p to have an impact. That would nearly double the cost of some brands of cider, vodka and lager.
The experts also called for a return to the traditional standard size 125ml glass of wine served in bars, at the expense of the larger 175ml and 250ml sizes.
AADE, formerly headed by city drugs tsar Tom Wood, also wants a "social responsibility fee" for pubs in areas of over-provision and separate supermarket queues for people buying alcohol.
Drinks industry chiefs today said a price rise would penalise responsible drinkers.
But in its response to the Government's consultation, AADE said: "A minimum price of 35p per unit could still leave a unit of alcohol at a relatively inexpensive rate. A minimum of 50p is perhaps the lowest level that may have an impact when compared to the cost of living in other areas."
The response added: "AADE would support the introduction of 125ml glasses but would prefer only these measures to be available. Beer might also be standardised usefully as 250ml and 450ml or 330ml bottles."
But David Poley, chief executive of industry body the Portman Group, whose members manufacture more than 60 per cent of the alcohol sold in the UK, said: "Setting a minimum price for alcohol would be a tax on hard-working, responsible drinking Scots.
"Education has made a huge difference to drink-driving in the UK, changing both attitudes and behaviour significantly over the last 30 years.
"Campaigns, combined with robust enforcement of the law, can have the same impact on heavy drinking."
Members of AADE are split on whether to raise the minimum age of off-licence sales to 21, which they say could either "facilitate young people's development of skills in managing alcohol" by restricting them to pubs, or "deny individuals who are eligible to take on adult responsibilities the right to purchase alcohol outwith public houses".
Labour group health spokeswoman, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: "Raising the age would demonise young people."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The number of alcohol-related deaths has doubled in a decade, as has the incidence of alcoholic liver disease, while alcohol continues to fuel violence and undermine our economy. We need a response which is proportionate to the scale of the problem and we need to take action."
The full article contains 505 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
