MINIMUM UNIT PRICING FOR ALCOHOL AND CIVIL LIBERTY

Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol and Civil Liberty

Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol and Civil Liberty

Introduction

Alcohol and its impact on the society have been demonstrated back from the historical perspective. A very important concern is that the usage of alcohol is increased in the modern society and the effects of alcohol are mostly not good for the society. It has also been observed that the usage of alcohol is very common in the society of the United Kingdom especially among the youngsters. So, a strategy of minimum pricing for alcohol was planned by the government of the United Kingdom aiming to decrease the consumption of alcohol in the region. The core focus of this essay is to discuss and analyze the minimum unit control pricing for alcohol and its impact on civil liberty.

Discussion

It is significant that the minimum unit pricing strategy for alcohol by the government was aimed to minimize the consumption of alcohol in the United Kingdom. A major drawback for the citizens was that this strategy aimed to target the civil liberty of the residents of the United Kingdom. It is obvious that the drinking has now become a part of the living style of the citizens of the United Kingdom. So, the pricing strategy adopted by the government to control the consumption of alcohol affected the civil liberty of individuals and this pricing strategy was not easily acceptable by the individuals. It is very difficult for the individuals to acceot the fact that they have to think in a different way to shift their social and cultural habits regarding their attitudes towards alcohol drinking (Babor, 2010, pp. 120).

An important issue that arises in this regard is that whether the people would support alcohol drinking in a social and controlled environment, or they will support discount on alcohol and unrestricted drinking of alcohol. Another important thing to notice is that a hardened drinking will not be force to change his drinking habits just because of an increase of few pounds in the price of alcohol. A strategy that would include the balance of sociable drinking in a licensed premise might reduce the number of pre drinkers and hardened drinkers, and would in turn also reduce the consumption of alcohol. The main reason for the government to implement the minimum unit pricing strategy was to reduce the consumption of alcohol, but this was not achieved by the government and this strategy was also not acceptable by the people.

The minimum unit pricing strategy that the government has aimed to implement on the pricing of alcohol is considered to be a crazy idea by the individuals of the United Kingdom because it directly affects the liberty and the drinking habits of the people (Boyle, 2013, pp. 108). It is obvious that the England is a free economy and the shop keepers should have the authority to sell any products at a price of their wish. One target that the government wants to achieve through the ...