2023-11-23 23:47:43
Will France take an example from Scotland? As part of the examination of the 2024 budget, which begins this Thursday, November 23 in the Senate, several senators want to tackle the price of alcohol by prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages below a certain price.
This would consist, without touching taxes, of establishing a floor price for an alcoholic drink based on its alcohol content. This measure targets in particular beers, cheap spirits but especially wines, drinks that tend to consume people who are most dependent on alcohol. In France, 8% of adults consume half of the alcohol sold in the country, the senators indicate.
“In Scotland, this was implemented in May 2018. It produced results. We are going to bring this debate to the finance bill,” says senator (related to PS) Bernard Jomier, quoted by Public Senate. Indeed, after the implementation of this measure, a study published in The Lancet indicates that alcohol sales in Scotland have fallen by 3% and deaths directly linked to alcohol have fallen by 13.4%.
No bottle of wine below 3.50 euros
To fight against excessive alcohol consumption, the senators united behind Bernard Jomier, also a doctor by training, want to increase the minimum price per unit of alcohol. The goal is to increase the unit of alcohol to 50 cents, knowing that there are “7-8 units of alcohol per bottle”, specifies Bernard Basset, president of Addictions France.
The price of a bottle of wine could therefore no longer be below 3.50 euros. A rule that “would also apply to cubicles”, specifies Bernard Basset. According to an example given by the Senate television channel, the price of the cheapest 5-liter wine box on the market would increase from 9.35 euros to 23.30, an increase of almost 150%.
In France, alcohol is responsible for 49,000 deaths each year, according to the Ministry of Health. Across Europe, alcohol is responsible for more than 7% of illnesses and premature deaths. And globally, alcohol is considered the third risk factor for morbidity, after high blood pressure and tobacco, recalls the Ministry of Health.
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