Minimum alcohol pricing increase should help addicts, committee says

BBC News

4 days ago

Any income made from increasing the minimum unit price for alcohol in Wales should be reinvested in addiction services, the chair of a Senedd committee has said.The Welsh government said it was considering the benefits of raising the unit price for alcohol beyond the current 50p.But one woman, from Gwynedd, who has battled alcoholism said raising the price would only cause "more suffering" to families of addicts.Charity Alcohol Change UK said the price should be raised to 65p but added that more must be done to help the most vulnerable.
Iola Ynyr, from Caernarfon in Gwynedd, recently won the Welsh Book of the Year prize for her series of autobiographical stories talking about her battle with alcoholism.She has now been sober for seven years but does not believe raising the minimum price of a unit would have the desired effect."I don't think it would change the drinking patterns of people who are dependent on alcohol."Anyone who is addicted or dependant is going to find a way of getting more because that's the illness and how it effects people."The need for alcohol increases and you have to have it, and if that doesn't happen in a situation where there's family, it's them who suffer."Iola said that people may cut back on eating or try to cut costs, "especially if there are children it's going to make the whole situation worse with more suffering to follow".
Iola Ynyr believes more funding should be invested in recovery services that include the arts and creative ways to deal with addiction.Plaid Cymru's Peredur Owen Griffiths is the chair of the Substance Use and Addiction Cross Party Group, and said studies show the increase would drive the number of people being hospitalised and dying down."Vast research has been done that shows the policy is working and people are getting help and reducing their alcohol consumption, and what that means is it's keeping people out of hospitals and out of the morgue."He said any additional money raised should go to "frontline services" and the "harm reduction elements that people are crying out for".Public Health Wales figures show between 2019 and 2023 there was a rise of more than 50% in alcohol-related deaths.Alcohol Change UK said it supported raising the minimum unit price for alcohol to 65p but also raised concerns that the most deprived areas could be affected.Director of the charity, Andrew Misall, said that making alcohol cheaper was not the answer.He added that those who had an alcohol addiction needed to be supported so they did not suffer.The Welsh government said it was considering the benefits of raising the minimum unit price for alcohol in Wales, after initial research showed its positive impact since it was introduced in 2020.It added it was launching a public consultation and would take those into consideration before deciding how to proceed.