Scotland has led the world by becoming the first country to implement a minimum unit price for alcohol, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister hailed the policy, designed to cut alcohol-related harm, as “bold and brave” as it was finally brought in across the country.
The minimum 50p per unit price, delayed for six years by a legal challenge led by the Scotch Whisky Association, has been welcomed by the medical professional and health campaigners as the biggest breakthrough in public health since the ban on smoking in public.
The law bans cheap supermarket vodka, super-strength lager and cider.
Major Lynden Gibbs, addictions support officer at the Salvation Army told Premier this new law will make a difference to those struggling.
“We work with people who are less wealthy than others so it makes a big difference because they’re buying cheap alcohol in big quantities. It will cut down hospital admissions, it will cut down debt,” he said.
It is estimated the move could save around 392 lives in the first five years of its implementation in Scotland, where on average there are 22 alcohol-specific deaths every week and 697 hospital admissions.
The misuse of alcohol is thought to cost Scotland £3.6 billion each year, or £900 for every adult in the country.
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