A proposal to introduce minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland has been defeated on the grounds that it \”would penalise responsible drinkers, harm the Scotch whisky industry, cost jobs and [is] probably illegal\”. Opponents of the measures, which were introduced as a potential response to problem drinking, pointed to the likelihood that the rules would likely \”breach EU and international trade rules\”. As readers likely know, BC has had minimum shelf prices for alcohol for a long time. I have questioned the utility of these policies, as they are currently used, since they simply create windfall profits for suppliers and provide no proven benefit in terms of reducing problem consumption.
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