Want people to temper their drinking habits? Then ditch the carrot and reach for the stick. Raise prices, reduce availability of booze and block marketing of alcohol to young people. That鈥檚 the stern message to the UK and other governments from independent UK think tank the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which published a report on 13 November examining the circumstances under which 鈥渘anny state鈥� policies might be justified.
鈥淎t present the UK government is trying to encourage a sensible drinking culture,鈥� says John Krebs, chairman of the committee that wrote the report. 鈥淏ut walk through 鈥榲omit alley鈥� in central Oxford on a Saturday night and you will see a conspicuous absence of it.鈥�
鈥淲alk through 鈥榲omit alley鈥� on a Saturday night to see an absence of sensible drinking鈥�
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The council examined several areas in which governments might intervene to improve public health, including alcohol, obesity and smoking. It concluded that intervention was most strongly justified to limit excessive alcohol consumption, as drunkards harm others as well as themselves.
Nuffield report co-author Roger Brownsword said that excessive alcohol consumption costs the UK 拢20 billion a year, a third of it through crime and public disorder. It also results in domestic violence, exposing 1 million children to the ill effects of home consumption by parents, carers and siblings, and leads to economic losses through absenteeism.
Drugs and Alcohol 鈥� Learn more in our comprehensive special report.
