Minimum Price for Wine,Beer and Shorts

There is much talk of changing the law in England and Wales to force retailers and merchants to charge a minimum price per unit of alcohol for wines, beers and spirits. At 50 pence per unit the price of a bottle of wine would cost at least £4.50, if it contained 9 units of alcohol by volume. Apart from the fact that wine would no longer be a loss leader for supermarkets, it would no longer be in their interests to sell bulk wines at £3.00 per bottle. This should lead to an improvement in the quality of the wine being sold; as consumers will expect better value for money in terms of quality.

The problem of excessive consumption of alcohol needs to be attacked on two fronts; economic and cultural. The drinking public should be encouraged to turn to consuming lesser quantities of higher quality drinks. Who is going to slug back a bottle of 1989 Gruaud Larose as if it was an alcopop? All drinks, except perhaps beer, should be consumed as part of meal and it is within the interests of our society to change our drinking culture to that found in Spain, Italy or Greece.

The warnings of the medical profession and their blandishments to drink a certain number of units per day or week are not working. For some people there is no safe level especially if they are suffering from liver infections or are recovering alcoholics. For other people the recommended level of maximum consumption can be slightly exceeded without ill effects. Different countries also recommend different levels of alcohol consumption. The public are sceptical of the "measuring cylinder" mentality of medical pundits appearing on breakfast television and telling us how to lead our lives and what to eat and drink. Give people the facts and let them take their own decisions and, better still, encourage everyone to find out the facts for themselves.

One thing is certain if you drink at home before going out to celebrate you are asking for trouble. In recent years the relative price of drinks has gone down considerably and the number of alcohol sales outlets has gone up considerably. This, coupled with the stresses of life and the constant free and easy party mentality, has lead to dangerous levels of over consumption not just by youngsters but many of the older generation in their homes. When I was a youngster we hardly ever drank at home or in the park before going out for a few of pints. The drinking culture is now one of excess; we need to go back to calmer times. If you drink at home everyday, limit yourself to the equivalent of a quarter or third of a bottle of wine with food. Better still do not drink everyday of the week or try to have two consecutive days a week without drinking. Keep to a similar routine when on holiday, as this will allow for the occasional over indulgence. There is no need to wear a hair shirt or jot down how many glasses you have drunk each day. Just use your commonsense. Stick to quality rather than quantity and enjoy the best wine that you can afford rather than sloshing down bulk produced wine at subsidised prices.

Over indulgence needs to be tackled at an economic and cultural level before it becomes too much of a medical problem. We have a lot to learn from our continental cousins.