Scots are World Champion Drinkers
English people wondering about where the extra money received under the Barnett Formula from English taxpayers actually goes, received their answer today: we drink it! The Scots drink 20% more alcohol than either the English or the Welsh; we drink an average of 23 units of alcohol per week. According to Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish health minister, this excessive consumption costs the Scottish economy £3.65 billion, or about £900 per adult which is not far off the £1100 that Scots receive from the Barnett Formula each year.
The fiery Sturgeon counters criticism: “We have already taken bold action against this most pressing of problems. Our alcohol framework outlines a package of over 40 measures to reduce alcohol-related harm.” However, the gap between England and Scotland seems to be growing which means the policy is failing. Industry spokesman denied any link between sales of alcohol and excessive alcohol consumption. (Work that out if you can!)
Scots buy approximately 11.8 litres of pure alcohol per year, compared with 9.6 for England. It is bought mainly through the off-trade (aka offies) and is often cheap vodka. As the price of alcohol is broadly comparative across the UK, the factors that drive the difference cannot be economic.
We believe that the real cause is the god-awful weather, the constant harassment from midges and having to listen to Alex Salmond on the TV too frequently.
More new coverages at The Scotsman, and GP Online.
Docs voice for use of warning images on alcohol bottles
July, 10
If you find graphic images of diseased livers on alcohol bottles then don’t be surprised, as the docs have proposed the use of such graphic images as a warning for drinkers. This proposal came as a result of the trend of excessive consumption of alcohol in the UK. In the BMA conference in Edinburgh it was known that the alcohol consumption in the UK had doubled since 1960. It is expected that such warnings on the bottles of beer and wine will help to reduce the consumption to some extent.
It is clearly known that in recent times their has been a major upward trend in the drinking culture in the UK. This in turn is resulting to more and more alcohol related ailments and also is giving rise to more crimes. Doctors have raised the need to use graphic images on alcohol products and also such posters in pubs and clubs where alcohol is largely served.
UK has been fighting with the severe problem of binge drinking from a long time and also in recent year’s cases of under age drinking has come up as a major concern. With such an easy availability of alcohol to all, this problem has become a major problem now. To overcome this problem such unpleasant images on alcohol bottles, can and posters will help to some extent.
According to doctor Raj Narula, a urologist at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Wales, excessive consumption of alcohol causes cirrhosis of the liver which leads to cancer. Its time to take some decisive step to combat this problem, slowly this problem is taking shape of an epidemic and we need to fight it out before its too late. He said we have to start from an early age targeting teenagers who are more vulnerable to this drinking culture.
So the day is not far when we can see images displaying the hazards of consuming alcohol on liquor bottles.
Scots children world champs in healthy lifestyle
June, 18
Healthy news for all Scots, a recent research has revealed that Scottish children are eating a whole lot of fruits and are also doing a whole lot of exercising than other youngsters in the world. The survey undertaken in 41 countries including over 200,000 children revealed that Scottish children’s are following a healthy lifestyle than the rest.
This positive and healthy fact came as a relief for the Scots who were battling it quite hard with the drug and alcohol addiction among the under age children’s. The research suggested that, the trend of the healthy lifestyle was up in the early age group between the 11-13 years, while the graph dipped slightly with age group of 13-15 years.
Scotland 15-years old stood 8th in the list of youngsters reporting first being drunk before 13. While the 13-years old Scottish children’s were ranked second when they were asked if they had been drunk at least twice. The research also showed that about 9 percent of the 15-year-old in Scotland was regular cannabis users.
The study not only highlighted the healthy lifestyle of the Scottish children’s who have taken up with eating more healthy foods and also taken exercising seriously. But the study also revealed the grey areas of the young generation of Scotland who have taken up to drugs and alcohol.
The experts have said that children taking up to drugs and alcohol is a real serious issue and needs to be tackled at an early stage. Now the responsibility of the parents has increased a bit more as they now need to be more watchful and concerned about their kids and what they are up to these days. Also the behaviour of the parents do have an influence on the kids, so the patents should be cautious about their habits, as this could have an adverse impact on the child’s likings and attitude.
Political opposition over new drink plan
June, 17
The on going row over the alcohol sales has taken a new turn today with political parties opposing the proposal of making 21 years as the new legal age for buying alcohol. This new proposal for increasing the age for buying alcohol in an off-license shop or supermarket was opposed by both the conservatives and the Liberal Democrats strongly.
It was also thought to ban the huge promotions of such alcoholic products which give a false impact to the society. The refusal by both the groups came as a major setback, meanwhile it was urged that this new proposal with help to sought out the rising health and social problem related with alcohol. It will also help to fight out the under-age drinking threat which is a main issue these days.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberals felt that this scheme will not work out properly and also its not fair to stigmatise the under 21s. They flayed the new proposal and stood against it in chorus.
Meanwhile it was known that the government’s wide-ranging package will be made public on Tuesday and will come in the light of a pilot scheme in Armadale. It is to be seen that what impact this package will have on public.