Raise price of booze say experts

Increasing tax on alcohol in line with moves this week on tobacco is a "no brainer", experts say, yet the Government has all but rejected the call.

Dr Jennie Connor, an Otago University expert in the health effects of alcohol, sees strong parallels between the effects of smoking and drinking.

Though smoking was more likely to kill the individual, the carnage from drinking affected more people.

"There's absolutely no doubt price is the most effective way to reduce harmful drinking," Dr Connor said.

"For most people, putting the price up is not going to stop them drinking. But it will reduce the amount they drink. And particularly for heavy drinkers, drinking a little bit less has a big effect on everyone around them."

Almost all members of the Law Commission which studied alcohol laws called for increased tax. However, the Government said an increase for alcohol would penalise responsible drinkers as much as destructive ones.

Dr Connor said responsible drinkers would regard a bigger excise tax as a small price for safer neighbourhoods and roads.

Professor Doug Sellman, director of the National Addiction Centre, said the social damage from alcohol outweighed tough measures being unfair on responsible drinkers.

Dr Connor said a price increase would not stop supermarkets selling very cheap alcohol - an alternative might be putting in place a minimum price per unit.

ALCOHOL
$4.4b cost to society each year
Estimated 14,250 lives lost to harmful drinking in 2005-06

TOBACCO
$1.9b cost to society each year
Approximately 5000 deaths due to smoking a year

Sources: Business and Economic Research Ltd (alcohol), Ministry of Health (tobacco)