Alcohol misuse in Scotland, the stats

ALCOHOL MISUSE IN SCOTLAND
Social impact	Health impact
SOURCES: FACTS FROM A VARIETY OF NHS AND SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL STATISTICS
In 2007, 50 million litres of pure alcohol was sold in Scotland.	In 2003, 2,882 people in Scotland died due to an alcohol-related condition.
In 2008, nearly half (49%) of all prisoners in Scottish jails said that they were drunk at the time of the offence, with the figure rising to 76% for young offenders.	Scotland has one of the fastest growing rates of liver cirrhosis in the world which has doubled since 1990 and is now twice that of England and Wales.
Between 1990 and 2004 the percentage of 13-year-olds who had been drinking in the previous week rose from 10% to 20%.	Male mortality rates relating to liver cirrhosis in Scotland more than doubled between 1987 and 1991 and between 1997 and 2001. Between 1997 and 2001, the male mortality rate in Scotland due to liver cirrhosis was more than double that of England
The cost of alcohol misuse to Scottish society in 2007 has been estimated to be between £2.47bn and £4.63bn.	Scotland now has one of the fastest growing rates of liver cirrhosis in the world.
In 2007 in Scotland, 17,021 alcohol licenses were operating. This equated to 42 licences per 10,000 people over the age of 18	In Scotland in 2006-07, there were an estimated 111,200 consultations with GPs and practice nurses for alcohol misuse.

 

Comments

[Michael_Grieve]

Joan

There is no quick fix for the Alcohol problem in Scotland. We need long term action Education is a big thing and yes there is already a lot of money spent on it. I think it has to be targeted at an ealier age. It needs to be targeted better.

Michael

[David McEwan Hill]

We cansee the manifesto of the Labour Party for the Scottish Election coming together.

1. Raise the Council Tax
2. Make sure the poor can get cheap alcohol

[Mogreb-El-Acksa]

Good point peter

Dr. Richard Simpson was outrageous this morning. He says he's against Minimum Pricing because it will hit the poor. BUT he's in favour of increasing Taxation on Alcohol which will hit everyone.
If your "poor" what's the difference if the price goes up due to Minimum pricing or Taxation.
Plus a hike in tax on alcohol won't hit the rich as they can easily afford it.
Simpson went on to say minimum pricing would be avoided by rich people as they could afford to change their drink choice. More Rubbish, rich people don't drink cheap strong lagers or ciders.
A doctor was brought on who said that Dr. Simpson was selective in the parts of the Sheffield report he chose to use. She stated that Simpson ignored the major chunks of the Sheffield report that didn't suite his attack on Minimim Pricing.
Yes Dr. Simpson's argument was made very forcibly but it was both illogical and misleading. Some people would say that's what you should expect from a Scottish Labour politician. But I was both shocked and angry to hear a Doctor attempt to mislead Scots over a measure that is aimed at reducing the damage done by alcohol. He was much more concerned in limiting the damage to his party

[Jolene Crawford]

It's time we stopped getting our knickers in a twist about the relatively small number of people who have a problem with illegal drugs, and start concentrating on the legal one that is really killing us...

www.tdpfscotland.org.uk

[1971thistle]

Sadly Joan, the Labour Party have calculated that keeping the opium of the people cheap is a vote-winner. The worst thing is, they're probably right

[Peter Curran]

The fact that all politicians tread delicately around is that the poor - or less than affluent - tend to be the problem area for public order
and the economy, although the health aspect clearly crosses all income and class boundaries.

(I include among the poor young people, perhaps
children of middle class families but with limited disposable incomes.)

The middle-aged middle classes are not, in the main, given to rioting in city centres, random violence, casual assaults, burglary etc. although their childlren might well be.

All this claptrap about pensioners on minimum incomes being denied their wine and vodka, spouted by Dr. Richard Simpson (on 'Call Kaye' today) is nonsense, and frankly, the older you get, the greater the argument for reducing alcohol intake if not total abstinence.