New
research that examines Scotland’s attitudes towards alcohol has shown
more people are in favour of introducing minimum unit pricing as a tool to
reduce problem drinking, than against.
Around 1,500 people were surveyed on their attitudes to
alcohol as part of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2013.
84
per cent of people agreed that alcohol caused either ‘a great deal’
or ‘quite a lot of harm’ in Scotland, with 93 per cent of people
stating that harmful drinking is a ‘very serious’ or ‘quite
serious’ problem.
The
results from the survey go on to show that 60 per cent of adults in Scotland
thought alcohol was the drug causing the most problems in Scotland – an
increase of 14 per cent from 2004.
When asked about minimum pricing, 41 per cent of people
were in favour of the policy with 35 per cent against it. 22 per cent had no
strong view either way.
Around half of people thought that supermarkets sell too
much alcohol at very cheap prices and 55 to 66 per cent of adults surveyed
thought that the suggested minimum prices that could be applied to beer, wine
and vodka when minimum unit pricing is implemented were ‘about
right’.
Only 12 per cent thought they were ‘too
high’.
Health Secretary Alex Neil welcomed the results of the
survey and said that they show an increasing need for continuing action to be
taken on tackling Scotland’s difficult relationship with
alcohol.
He
said: “The fact that more than 8 out of 10 people surveyed thought that
alcohol causes considerable harm in Scotland shows there is an increasing need
to bring in measures that can tackle these issues.
“The evidence shows that introducing a minimum
unit price for alcohol would be an effective way to tackle to the availability
of high-strength cheap alcohol – the type that causes the most problems
in Scotland.
“It’s encouraging that the majority of
people who expressed a view also see that minimum unit pricing would be an
important tool in rebalancing Scotland’s relationship with alcohol. Half
of people think that supermarkets sell alcohol far too cheaply and an even
greater number, two thirds, think that, once minimum unit pricing is
introduced, alcohol prices will be about right.
“This is a strong indication that the Scottish
public support our policy for a minimum unit price, and recognise that we have
a significant problem with alcohol that needs urgent action to
tackle.”
Further findings from the Scottish Social Attitudes
Survey show a continued lack of awareness of the number of units in alcoholic
drinks, with around half of people being unable to identify the number of units
in a pint of beer, measure of spirits or a glass of wine. Only 18 per cent of
people could correctly name the number of units in a bottle of
wine.
Only one in five people knew that the correct minimum
number of alcohol free days per week, as recommended by health experts, was
two.
In
addition most people disapproved of excessive drinking with only 19 per cent
agreeing that getting drunk is a perfectly acceptable thing to do on
weekends.
However around a third of people didn’t see binge
drinking as a serious problem, even though 93 per cent of people of thought
harmful drinking was a serious issue.
The Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA)
Survey is an annual survey of social and political attitudes in Scotland. Run
by ScotCen Social Research since 1999, it provides a reliable and robust
picture of changing public opinion over time.
Interview with a representative sample of the Scottish
population were conducted between June and October 2013, with 1497 interviews
carried out.
Questions on alcohol were funded by the Scottish
Government and managed by NHS Health Scotland.
The
full survey can be accessed here: http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/23453.aspx