Binge-Drinking to Remain Affordable in England – Moderate Drinkers Should not be Penalized

This is an interesting post about what’s happening in the UK, Prime Minister does not want to penalize moderate drinkers with higher costs. The UK has a problem with drinking, and for that matter what country doesn’t by today’s standards.

The Prime Minister and Health care officials are at odds on this one, agreed, they need to tackle the problem, but is pricing an answer? BD

Perhaps remembering what happened to Herbert Hoover when he supported efforts to keep people from drowning their sorrows during the Great Depression, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected a new proposal on Monday by England’s chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, to combat binge-drinking by introducing a minimum price for alcohol, which would have doubled the price of many beers and spirits.

Sir Liam laid out his argument for raising the price of alcohol in his annual report on the state of public health in England — the section on drinking is available as a .pdf file — as well as in a series of media appearances. Unfortunately for him, in an odd bit of political timing, Mr. Brown had already rejected his proposal by the time he went on the air for an interview with Channel 4 News in London.

As The Guardian reported on Monday, Mr. Brown said at a news conference:

We do not want the responsible, sensible majority of moderate drinkers to have to pay more or suffer as a result of the excesses of a small minority. And that’s the context in which we look at the problems that the chief medical officer has raised.