Scotland Hopes to Implement Minimum Unit Pricing on Alcohol Sales

[aujeff11 6,243]

"The global alcohol industry is bracing for a potentially precedent-setting court decision in Scotland this summer on whether the government can set a floor on alcohol prices.

The semiautonomous Scottish government in 2012 passed legislation that sets a minimum price for all alcoholic beverages of 50 pence (about 72 cents) a unit, which is equal to 10 milliliters of pure alcohol. So-called minimum unit pricing, or MUP, is meant to curb heavy drinking by sharply boosting the price of the cheapest booze on the market...."

Thoughts? This could help clean up the Mad dog and Wild Irish Rose bottles on the side of the slum area roads (haha) while also minimizing alcohol consumption among the lower class. If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest, I can imagine this law would be considered constitutional.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/alcohol-makers-await-scottish-vote-1465119010?mod=e2fb

[AuburnNTexas 7,246]

The poor who often drink to forget about how they live will find another way, Pot, crack, moonshine, etc.

[telling tiger 156]

Lived in a Bham wealthy suburb at one time......the spoiled little brats were as bad about drinking and many other things, as any, "lower class"........., as you said, folks will ever be. Trashy as could be.

Not the governments business. As above poster noted, it will create a stronger black market. Prohibition has NEVER worked any where.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Lived in a Bham wealthy suburb at one time......the spoiled little brats were as bad about drinking and many other things, as any, "lower class"........., as you said, folks will ever be. Trashy as could be.

Not the governments business. As above poster noted, it will create a stronger black market. Prohibition has NEVER worked any where.

If the wealthy has the money to drink, and exceptional health care that will support their habits, let them. Nobody is telling the wealthy they cannot drink. This isn't prohibition.

[telling tiger 156]

Pricing someone out of a market, is prohibiting them.....My point is, those people trashed anything that was in their way. They are no different than the people you appear to put down. Class warfare much.....

You can call it anything you like, it WILL create a stronger black market and create additional, "unintended consequences".............another underground, "crime'' network.

Ignorant as hell proposition.....

[AURaptor 1,137]

It's soft core prohibition

[telling tiger 156]

Gee, who would imagine that one of Scotland's biggest export's is liquor....lmao......along with salmon, it is 17% of their export business...

Largest customer? The US...

https://www.theguard...ry-scotland-tax

[AURaptor 1,137]

Tax yachts & only the rich will be impacted.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Pricing someone out of a market, is prohibiting them.....My point is, those people trashed anything that was in their way. They are no different than the people you appear to put down. Class warfare much.....

You can call it anything you like, it WILL create a stronger black market and create additional, "unintended consequences".............another underground, "crime'' network.

Ignorant as hell proposition.....

I am not putting anybody down. WTF are you talking about. I don't care if the wealthy trashed anything. The only reason why I mentioned the MD and Wild Irish rose is because j used to find them all the time when I worked for the city of Florence in the poorest sections of town, so I made a sidebar joke that was denoted with a "haha.". Your point being made is really irrelevant. And I understand why you think this will lead to an underground crime network but I don't think that conclusion is valid. If they can afford to run an underground crime network, they can afford alcohol on the price floor.

Anyways, you can either talk to me like you talk to Raptor or we can have a good convo. If you think this law is unconstitutional because it discriminates against the poor, you may be right. I don't think it's discrimination though. It's just going after the heavy drinkers that rely on cheap alcohol.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Gee, who would imagine that one of Scotland's biggest export's is liquor....lmao......along with salmon, it is 17% of their export business...

Largest customer? The US...

https://www.theguard...ry-scotland-tax

Well no s***. Have you not ever had a scotch before?

[telling tiger 156]

It's much ado about not a damn thing......A black market WILL accommodate it's market.....if it is a price consideration, they will beat price, quality never an issue. Substance ban? They will accommodate the substance....They are completely overrun by a heroin epidemic right now and have been for over a decade....They have real issues to deal with, this isn't one of them.

[aujeff11 6,243]

It's much ado about not a damn thing......A black market WILL accommodate it's market.....if it is a price consideration, they will beat price, quality never an issue. Substance ban? They will accommodate the substance....They are completely overrun by a heroin epidemic right now and have been for over a decade....They have real issues to deal with, this isn't one of them.

If the law passes, I can imagine much of the EU countries will try to implement it. I'd keep my eye on it.

[telling tiger 156]

Has no effect on me, complete waste of their time and as noted by my link, that your only understanding of was, "no s***"........it's a huge financial and business interest for the country......Often producers, manufacture for the entire spectrum of the market, label it accordingly and the businesses will fight it.....imo

Sounds a lot like Alabama............find something, screw it up and claim victory......

[aujeff11 6,243]

Has no effect on me, complete waste of their time and as noted by my link, that your only understanding of was, "no s***"........it's a huge financial and business interest for the country......Often producers, manufacture for the entire spectrum of the market, label it accordingly and the businesses will fight it.....imo

Sounds a lot like Alabama............find something, screw it up and claim victory......

It's not just Scotand though. The subject has been debated on for years now within the EU. I think you're the one that's not understanding anything at all. Canada has had a a MUP on their alcohol for a while now and it has been fairly successful.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/30/canada-state-controlled-drinking-health

[telling tiger 156]

State pricing controls aren't new..................Even wholesale liquor purchases in Alabammer come from a state owned store. Who controls that wholesale price? The state. LONG been argued that the state needs to be removed from the business....At retail, consumption is also controlled....For a while, you could find 4 for 1 or 3 for 1 happy hour purchases.....You can't anymore. I don't argue it isn't in the states interest to maintain a healthy citizenry....has it lessened alcoholism? Has it lessened the black market or created a stronger one?

We don't and won't agree on this issue......any other time, people would be decrying the, "nanny state".....

People are going to drink and some are going to get high.....It is either a criminal source and not a safe source or it isn't....That certainly isn't the only issue involved but, it is one of them......

At the same time some areas are doing this, Alabama just allowed for off premises sales of micro beers. Higher alc content as a rule....Plenty of cards in this deck and many people are playing different ones.

The dedicated will drink, price not withstanding......that creates extraneous issues, not intended by this action.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

"If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest,"

"The government's interests? What about the interests of society?

This is an absurd plan. When addicts cannot get a fix or, get treatment for their addiction, what do they typically do? How many times do you have to learn the same lessons?

[telling tiger 156]

I'll take a double bath tub Scotch to go, please......

The entire right wing all but had a meltdown when Bloomberg tried to ban large soft drinks......I agreed with them.......

While I don't drink 64 oz of soda at a time, it isn't any of the government's business if I do.....

I don't drink MD 20/20...............not the governments business if I do.

[aujeff11 6,243]

"If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest,"

"The government's interests? What about the interests of society?

This is an absurd plan. When addicts cannot get a fix or, get treatment for their addiction, what do they typically do? How many times do you have to learn the same lessons?

"What about the interests of the society?"

Umm... The government interests should always trump liver failure and other alcohol related problems that can negatively affect the governments citizenry. Society can get over it.

Healthier population means more people fit to work, cheaper health insurance rates, etc,

[aujeff11 6,243]

I'll take a double bath tub Scotch to go, please......

The entire right wing all but had a meltdown when Bloomberg tried to ban large soft drinks......I agreed with them.......

While I don't drink 64 oz of soda at a time, it isn't any of the government's business if I do.....

I don't drink MD 20/20...............not the governments business if I do.

The government isn't saying you cannot drink MD20/20. It's saying "go to your car and get another dollar because you are one short."

[telling tiger 156]

Yeah buddy, in a world where some cities are now providing clean needles and a free source of anti-OD drugs, that dollar is almighty...Stronger than ANY addiction, lmao......

They sure as hell won't care where it comes form....

Shortsighted.....watch out for the long ball.....

[icanthearyou 4,468]

"If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest,"

"The government's interests? What about the interests of society?

This is an absurd plan. When addicts cannot get a fix or, get treatment for their addiction, what do they typically do? How many times do you have to learn the same lessons?

"What about the interests of the society?"

Umm... The government interests should always trump liver failure and other alcohol related problems that can negatively affect the governments citizenry. Society can get over it.

Healthier population means more people fit to work, cheaper health insurance rates, etc,

Corrupt and naive.

Corrupt in the sense that it undermines freedom and individual responsibility. Naive to believe that legislation is a magic wand that makes societal issues go away. Have you thought about the inevitable criminal issues that will be created? And again, how many times does it take to learn the same lessons?

[TheBlueVue 177]

"The global alcohol industry is bracing for a potentially precedent-setting court decision in Scotland this summer on whether the government can set a floor on alcohol prices.

The semiautonomous Scottish government in 2012 passed legislation that sets a minimum price for all alcoholic beverages of 50 pence (about 72 cents) a unit, which is equal to 10 milliliters of pure alcohol. So-called minimum unit pricing, or MUP, is meant to curb heavy drinking by sharply boosting the price of the cheapest booze on the market...."

Thoughts? This could help clean up the Mad dog and Wild Irish Rose bottles on the side of the slum area roads (haha) while also minimizing alcohol consumption among the lower class. If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest, I can imagine this law would be considered constitutional.

http://www.wsj.com/a...119010?mod=e2fb

If only the govt could fix everything but it cant and making laws based on the idea that it can is counter-productive and insidious. Where does it stop?

[aujeff11 6,243]

"If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest,"

"The government's interests? What about the interests of society?

This is an absurd plan. When addicts cannot get a fix or, get treatment for their addiction, what do they typically do? How many times do you have to learn the same lessons?

"What about the interests of the society?"

Umm... The government interests should always trump liver failure and other alcohol related problems that can negatively affect the governments citizenry. Society can get over it.

Healthier population means more people fit to work, cheaper health insurance rates, etc,

Corrupt and naive.

Corrupt in the sense that it undermines freedom and individual responsibility. Naive to believe that legislation is a magic wand that makes societal issues go away. Have you thought about the inevitable criminal issues that will be created? And again, how many times does it take to learn the same lessons?

What criminal issues will be created? You think the public will go back to making moonshine in pappy's cabin over a price floor? Same lessons????? What lessons? This isn't prohibition. There have been sin taxes for years. What is the freaking difference other than the execution and its effectiveness?

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001963

[TheBlueVue 177]

"If the government can prove that this law would advance the government's interest,"

"The government's interests? What about the interests of society?

This is an absurd plan. When addicts cannot get a fix or, get treatment for their addiction, what do they typically do? How many times do you have to learn the same lessons?

"What about the interests of the society?"

Umm... The government interests should always trump liver failure and other alcohol related problems that can negatively affect the governments citizenry. Society can get over it.

Healthier population means more people fit to work, cheaper health insurance rates, etc,

Corrupt and naive.

Corrupt in the sense that it undermines freedom and individual responsibility. Naive to believe that legislation is a magic wand that makes societal issues go away. Have you thought about the inevitable criminal issues that will be created? And again, how many times does it take to learn the same lessons?

What criminal issues will be created? You think the public will go back to making moonshine in pappy's cabin over a price floor? Same lessons????? What lessons? This isn't prohibition. There have been sin taxes for years. What is the freaking difference other than the execution and its effectiveness?

If its just an additional tax, present it as such and be done with it. If its another progressive's idea in the interest of social engineering, it wont work but it will have unintended consequences, they all do.

[maxwere 82]

Great idea as I hate cheap beer and liquor. Naturally, its their prerogative to regulate, since they bear the burden of the healthcare expense. In principle it's terrible, it won't work, it's never worked.