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Minimum alcohol pricing approved

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic Pub' started by Callum McGregor, Nov 15, 2017.

Discuss Minimum alcohol pricing approved in the TalkCeltic Pub area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Raoul Duke

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    Aye but if you're taking gear chances are you aren't drinking as much. And I know some people who do such a thing.
     
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  2. Gyp Rosetti Gold Member

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  3. Boruc17

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    Taking gear makes you drink like a fish... so I’ve been told.
     
  4. greengrocer

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    Na....too busy rambling * and snorting gear
    But Tis more of a wine party drug.
     
  5. Raoul Duke

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    Up 27% since 2017
     
  6. Aidan O’Shea

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    SNP: “...but Westminster!”
     
  7. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Well well well...
     
  8. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Make alcohol unobtainable to poor people who can't afford to get * anymore to forget their miserable existence.

    Never mind there is always a smack dealer willing to sell you a fiver bag of cut to * smack.

    Still though, alcohol sales are down. Well done everybody
     
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  9. Seán Mac D Gold Member Gold Member

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    Said this at the time, very short-sighted and blunt solution to a much more complex societal problem.

    Instead of pricing people out of alcohol that many use as a way to escape lifes issues (unemployment, poverty, mental health issues) surely tackling the root causes that lead people to excessively drink would be a far better plan?

    Instead we have massively underfunded mental healthcare provision with waits of more than 12 months for people to speak to a mental health counsellor. The same struggling individuals fighting their own individual battles whose Frosty Jack's has now went from £3 to £12 a bottle.

    Have these individuals just chucked the drink and reformed their life? Or have they turned to bootleg alcohol or other illicit substances to escape their woes?
     
  10. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Felt stupid liking this post as there is nothing redeeming about it.

    It's * spot on though.
     
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  11. Seán Mac D Gold Member Gold Member

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    I still begrudgingly vote SNP - as I'd like Independence - but this was a poor piece of legislation to go with a few others.

    It could and should've been a holistic approach to the problem.

    • Better mental healthcare provision
    • Investment in leisure & recreation (stop council sales of football pitches to house-builders! free pitch rental for under 18s at sports facilities, a school near me has 20ft fences and pays a guy a wage to chase kids off the pitch during holidays instead of letting them play on it)
    • Improve Educational standards & opportunities
    • Reduce unemployment rate and attract better jobs with opportunities to progress to help aspiration
    All of those are empirically proven to reduce alcohol consumption and would have positive knock-on impacts on other target areas such as obesity.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2019
  12. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    Reading that article, it feels almost impossible to correlate the drug deaths with an increase in the price of cheap alcohol.

    The vast majority of deaths involved heroin, an addiction that can’t be blamed on more expensive alcohol. Heroin users are going to want more heroin regardless of the price of alcohol.
     
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  13. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Exactly.

    I would happily pay the extra for sugar and saturated fat if the overheads were being used to subsidise healthy alternatives and free exercise.

    As it is I can't * afford either anymore.
     
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  14. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Heroin has been around for centuries. The increase in drug deaths is consistent with the increase in alcohol prices.

    People need to forget minty and they will use any means necessary.

    Edit.

    You don't need to be an addict to die from heroin. In fact new users are more at risk I would say.
     
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  15. Seán Mac D Gold Member Gold Member

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    Look at the study for further information, since 2017:

    Cocaine deaths up, Valium deaths up, Alprazolam deaths up, Amphetamine deaths up, Methamphetamine deaths up, MDMA deaths up, Fentanyl deaths up...

    https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files...-deaths/2018/drug-related-deaths-sub1-18.xlsx
     
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  16. Raoul Duke

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    The vast majority of deaths are from heroin, but drug deaths across the board are up. I don't think it's a coincidence.
     
  17. Peej Gold Member Gold Member

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    Never taken a hard drug - whats the cost of taking these things, in money value?

    Just trying to wrap my head around, is it actually cheaper to get high on one of these drugs at the weekend over buying a couple bottles of cider?
     
  18. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Drug dealers aren't restricted by minimum pricing. Any * with half a brain and no scruples would be selling kids a 3 quid bag to get them hooked because one can of dragon soop isn't going to cut it anymore.

    This will get worse in the next few years.
     
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  19. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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    Thanks for that. Some of the drugs you mention don't have much data though (Valium row is almost blank when I open it)?

    Cocaine deaths have gradually increased for years, with a big jump in 2016, two years before the implementation of minimum pricing. That isn't evidence enough that a slight increase of some alcohol prices has contributed to more drug deaths, even if it may have contributed to some, just as an example.

    The article linked to that tweet also doesn't support the assumption that drug deaths have increased due to alcohol pricing.
     
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  20. Seán Mac D Gold Member Gold Member

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    My laptop is on a go slow and not opening the file here.

    Cocaine did jump in 2016 but also jumped again in 2017 and then again the following year. In isolation that wouldn't necessarily mean a causal link but when deaths from other drugs are also increasing (some of which that weren't already on an upward trend) then it suggests there has been a change.

    More data would be required to determine one way or another but I don't think it's coincidental and it's certainly not "impossible" to link the 2.