WALES'S ALCOHOL POLICY

In 1969 medium-strength beers were released from the Alko clutches for sale in supermarkets, and access was thus markedly improved - age-limits on who could buy liquor were lowered, Alko opening hours were extended, and new outlets were opened. The noble intention with such measures was to "Europeanise" and fashion Finnish consumption habits: to nudge people away from the hard stuff and towards wines and milder drinks. At the same time a lot of effort went into alcohol enlightenment campaigns

The end result was - in Häikiö's (writer of a book on the history of the retail liquor monopoly Alko) words - "the biggest disaster of Finnish postwar social history". Consumption soared and exceeded all the projections.

It is a very simple equation, and one that can be learned by heart before the budget (Finnish Government) talks get under way: price goes down, consumption goes up; price goes up, consumption goes down; availability restricted, consumption declines; ease of access improved, consumption heads upwards again.

In response the Finnish Government's budget proposals included:

The price of strong spirits, wine, and beer are to increase from the beginning of next year.

The British Medical Association (BMA) in Wales wants an increase in taxation on alcoholic drinks, proportionate to the strength of the product.

According to BMA Wales, the number of people admitted to hospital for alcohol-related conditions increased from 252 per 100,000 in 1999 to 309 per 100,000 in 2005. It said admission rates were significantly higher than the overall Welsh average in Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd, Newport, Wrexham, Swansea, Ynys Môn, Denbighshire, Conwy and Blaenau Gwent.

Powers over alcohol taxation need to be transfered to the Senedd. Solutions to Wales's alcohol problems must be formulated in Wales to meet the needs of our own public health agenda, just as other small nations do.