Take our test: Are you one of Britain's 8m problem drinkers?

12 April 2012

The report found there are more than 7 million problem drinkers in Britain

Supermarkets and pubs could face restrictions on the sale of cheap alcohol after ministers claimed that Britain has 8.2million problem drinkers.

This figure would mean that one in every six adults is either dependent on alcohol or rated a "hazardous or harmful" drinker.

To qualify as a problem drinker, a man must consume eight glasses of alcohol in a single night each week, and a woman six.

Anybody who has been told by a relative, friend or health worker that they are concerned about the amount they drink during the last year also falls into the category.

Ministers will now consider making alcohol too expensive for "problem drinkers" to afford. Targets include children and middle-aged people who consume large amounts of wine and beer at home.

But the proposals, which follow Labour's last attempt at tackling Britain's binge-drinking culture in 2004, were under fire from all sides last night.

Doctors, who have warned of a "health timebomb" caused by alcohol abuse, said they did not go far enough, while Opposition MPs attacked the hypocrisy of a Government which unleashed 24-hour drinking lecturing the public.

And pubs and retailers said the only group to suffer would be the law-abiding majority.

The Home Office and Department of Health, who are jointly in charge of the £10million alcohol strategy, insisted, however, that doing nothing was not an option.

According to DoH figures, there are 1.1million "dependent drinkers" who cost the health economy £403million a year.

A further 7.1million "hazardous and harmful drinkers" cost the health service £1.3billion a year.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said: "It's almost regarded as acceptable to drink to get drunk and we want to change that attitude.

"It is unacceptable for people to use alcohol and urinate in the street, vomit and carry on.

"I think attitudes have dramatically changed in relation to drinkdriving and smoking - we need to have that same sort of discussion and debate around binge-drinking as well."

Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister, denied Labour was targeting "middle-aged, middle-class drinkers".

But she added: "There are people, adults, who on a very regular basis are probably drinking twice the amount that is recommended."

Ministers said a new independent review will look at how the price of alcohol affects the amount people consume, particularly problem drinkers.

The cost of alcohol could be increased, with minimum prices set by law, while supermarkets will be placed under pressure to stop selling heavily discounted products.

The Government wants to end "loss leader" promotions enticing customers into a store by selling drink, such as wine or continental lager at heavily reduced prices.

If they fail to act, ministers are prepared to legislate to force them to sell alcohol more responsibly, though Mr Coaker held back from advocating an outright ban on sales tactics such as happy hours.

Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "Not only do high prices penalise the majority of sensible people, they are totally ineffective at tackling those intent on misusing alcohol.

"This will only drive the problem groups out of the formal market and underground. They will buy alcohol illicitly, or even brew it themselves."

Liver expert Professor Roger Williams, who treated the late footballing legend George Best, said more needed to be done about problem drinking, including increasing the legal age for buying alcohol from 18 to 21.

Doctors also want compulsory labelling warning of the dangers of drinking.

"The problems are getting worse - increased death rates from liver disease, young people drinking, alcohol consumption going up," said Professor Williams, of University College Hospital, London.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "We will look at these proposals in detail but it is important they do not become yet another stealth mechanism for the Government to ditch their responsibility to tackle serious crime.

"People should remember that half of all violent crime is fuelled by alcohol."

More than 8 million Britons are 'problem drinkers', according to shocking new figures released today.

New analysis from the Department of Health said the cost to the health economy was £1.3 billion.

The figures, which have not been published before, also said there were 1.1m "dependent drinkers" who cost the health economy £403 million.

In a bid to tackle the growing problem of binge-drinking and under-age drinkers, the Home Office is introducing a raft of measures including given drunken yobs information about how to cut their boozing.

Ministers revealed that alcohol referral schemes will be introduced to drunks in the same way that drug addicts are currently sent for compulsory counselling after being arrested.

The Home Office and Department of Health have held back from banning certain drinks promotions such as happy hours or "buy one get one free".

Instead, an independent national review will examine the relationship between alcohol promotions and the harm caused by drink.

Its findings will then be put up for discussion to see whether the public would support moves such as a ban on cut-price drink, the updated version of the Government's alcohol strategy said.

The strategy paper said: "Points of intervention will be introduced following arrest, through conditional caution and through disposal.

"Offenders will be given the facts about unsafe drinking and its link to criminal behaviour."

The report contained the startling figure that there are more than seven million problem drinkers in the country.

A new analysis from the Department of Health said there were an estimated 7.1 million "hazardous and harmful drinkers" and the cost to the health economy was £1.3 billion.

It added that investing £28.3 million on identifying the problems and giving advice would save an estimated £46.7 million.

The figures, which have not been published before, also said there were 1.1m "dependent drinkers" who cost the health economy £403 million.

Drunks will be offered advice and treatment and ministers will look at ways to make them pay for such measures, it added.

There will also be a new generation of publicity campaigns which ministers said would mark a major turning point in the bid to educate the public about the effects of booze.

It may use more methods than the current TV, radio and print campaigns, for example using the internet more widely.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said: "It is unacceptable for people to use alcohol and urinate in the street, vomit and carry on.

"I think attitudes have dramatically changed in relation to drink-driving and smoking - we need to have that same sort of discussion and debate around binge-drinking as well."

On the review of alcohol pricing and promotions, which will be published by next April, Mr Coaker said: "We want to look at the whole issue of price and promotions.

"We have got a voluntary code over things like happy hours. The review will then look at all of that and go out to consultation to see what people regard as acceptable or not.

"What we are trying to do is get responsible promotions."

Home Office minister Baroness Scotland insisted that introducing conditional cautions where punishments are imposed without going to court were not a soft option.

"It's not a slap on the wrist, it is having a menu of measures that we can turn to in order to respond appropriately and appropriately toughly to the situation which we are facing," she said.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. For some people we will have to be much more rigorous because their behaviour demands it."

The strategy will also kick off a root-and-branch stock-take of NHS spending on alcohol-related illness.

Health minister Caroline Flint said it would help the service prioritise spending and become more efficient in tackling the problem. Mr Coaker said: "It's almost regarded as acceptable to drink to get drunk and we want to change that attitude."

Ms Flint added: "This isn't a crackdown on middle-class wine drinkers per se. It's about saying if you are drinking over the limit on a daily basis, you could be storing up problems for yourself down the road."

Liver expert Professor Roger Williams, who treated the late footballing legend George Best, said more needed to be done, including compulsory labelling of drinks with how many units they contain and increasing the age at which young people can buy alcohol from 18 to 21.

"Everything being said today is laudable, but it's taken so long to get to this stage," said Prof Williams, professor of liver disease (hepatology) at University College Hospital, London.

"We've been pressing for measures for some years - will there really be effective action on any of these issues?

"The problems are getting worse - increased death rates from liver disease, young people drinking, alcohol consumption going up.

"Measures that are needed are an increase in the price of alcohol, access to it to be limited, young people in supermarkets shouldn't be able to buy it without showing identity cards, and the age at which youngsters can buy should be 21, as it is in America.

"The evidence from studies carried out around the world is that if you make alcohol more accessible, or lower its price, then alcohol consumption goes up.

"If alcohol consumption goes up, you get more diseases and more deaths."

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