NEW STUDY CONFIRMS THAT MINIMUM PRICING WILL NOT TARGET THE POOREST

NEW STUDY CONFIRMS THAT MINIMUM PRICING WILL NOT TARGET THE POOREST

SNP MSP Michael Matheson has welcomed a new study published today by Professor Anne Ludbrook of Aberdeen University's Health Economics Research Unit, which confirms that the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol would not disproportionately affect low-income families.

Professor Ludbrook's research has revealed that

• all income groups buy cheap alcohol
• middle-to-higher income groups are as likely to buy off-sales alcohol below 40p a unit as the lowest income groups
• the highest income households purchase the most off-sales alcohol
• low-income households are less likely to purchase any off-sales alcohol at all.

Commenting, Mr Matheson, who is a member of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee, said:
"Professor Ludbrook's findings comprehensively demolish the claim by opponents of minimum pricing that it would hit the poorest families hardest. Low-income household do not purchase more of the cheapest alcohol products than other income groups - in fact, they buy fewer.

"The aim of the SNP's minimum pricing policy is to target the dirt-cheap alcohol that fuels the worst problem drinking, regardless of the income or background of the drinker - and this study confirms that is exactly what it will do.

"The arguments of those who oppose minimum pricing are looking increasingly threadbare as more and more evidence accumulates to support minimum pricing as a sensible, targeted approach to tackling alcohol abuse. It is time for MSPs of all parties to put Scotland's health before political point scoring and get behind the SNP government's efforts to change our nation's destructive relationship with alcohol."