The UK’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies has been asked by the government to review current guidelines on how much alcohol is considered to be safe to drink.  Last updated 15 years ago guidance is that women should drink no more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day and men no more than 3-4. Not taken into consideration is that people should have at least two alcohol free days a week, a policy that has been adopted by the Scottish Government.  Dame Davies will chair lead the review alongside government officials from the whole of the UK.

Guidance is clearly required with the Department of Health reporting in 2009 that more than 9 million adults in England drink more that the advised guidelines. The Government has recently published its Alcohol Strategy proposals which are designed to tackle the UK’s “binge drinking” culture.

Following the publication of its the new Alcohol Strategy proposals the Home Office has released guidance on how it will affect the cost of alcohol.

At present the proposal is to put a 40p minimum unit price on alcohol, meaning it could not be sold for less than this amount per unit.  This will have a significant impact on the cost of super-strength ciders, beer and lagers aswell as own brand spirits.  The minimum cost of high strength cider would be £6, vodka £10.22 and whisky £11.20.

Also affected under the proposals will be multi-buy alcohol promotions in supermarkets and off-licences. This would mean an end to 2 for the price of 1 promotions thus reducing the incentive to buy additional alcohol in order to save money through multi-buy offers. The hope is that this will mean that people will not buy more alcohol than they want.

The proposals are being made as the government attempts to address the 1.2 million hospital admissions and violent crime attributed to excessive alcohol consumption.

The Government has published its Alcohol Strategy proposals which are designed to tackle “binge drinking” culture which David Cameron recently described as scandalous. The approach sets out four main points.

* Introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol.

* Consult on a ban on the sale of multi-buy alcohol discounting.

* Introduce stronger powers for local areas to control the density of licensed premises

* Pilot innovative sobriety schemes to challenge alcohol-related offending.

The move is being made as the government attempts to address the 1.2 million hospital admissions and violent crime attributed to excessive alcohol consumption.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron has outlined government proposals to implement a minimum alcohol price of 40p a unit in England and Wales.  This would mean that alcohol could not be sold for less than this amount per unit.  Lower cost beverages such as super-strength ciders, beer and lagers will be affected aswell as own brand spirits.

The move is being made as the government attempts to address the 1.2 million hospital admissions and violent crime attributed to excessive alcohol consumption.  Speaking today Mr Cameron said “Binge drinking isn’t some fringe issue, it accounts for half of all alcohol consumed in this country. The crime and violence it causes drains resources in our hospitals, generates mayhem on our streets and spreads fear in our communities.”

In Scotland where the effects of alcohol are estimated to cost £3.5billion a year there are separate proposals in place.  At present it is expected that a minimum alcohol price of 45p a unit will be actioned.

The Government has announced new measures to address alcohol related crime.  The pilot scheme communicated by Justice Minister Nick Herbert last week will target irresponsible drinkers by monitoring their sobriety using alcohol tags or by ordering daily breathalyser tests at a police station.

The “sobriety bracelets” can store blood alcohol levels every 30 minutes by measuring the level of ethanol secreted through sweat and air from the skin. They can also provide the police with the option to use GPS technology to track the whereabouts of the offender. The cities targeted to pilot the scheme will be announced by the Government in the coming weeks.