Dive Summary:
- Canadian minimum pricing on alcoholic beverages has substantially lowered the number of alcohol related deaths in the country, a big win for progressive legislators.
- Scotland and the rest of the U.K. have been in serious legislative debates over the issue, however the Canadian report will probably go a long way in assuaging any doubts.
- Alcohol companies, as expected, are seriously opposed to any minimum pricing of their products, as the measure ultimately decreases consumption.
From the article:
Author of the Canadian research, Dr Tim Stockwell, told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "What we found was a negative relationship such that every time the price goes up alcohol related deaths of a particular kind and those that are entirely caused by alcohol, things like alcoholic poisoning, alcoholic gastritis deaths linked to the coroner or physician to alcohol dependence, they go down substantially."
