Br J Psychiatry. 2012 Sep;201(3):169-71. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.111.105601.
The UK has seen a dramatic increase in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm over the past 30 years. Alcohol taxation has long been considered a key method of controlling alcohol-related harm but a combination of factors has recently led to consideration of methods which affect the price of the cheapest alcohol as a means of improved targeting of alcohol control measures to curb the consumption of the heaviest drinkers. Although much of the evidence in favour of setting a minimum price of a unit of alcohol is based on complex econometric models rather than empirical data, all jurisdictions within the UK now intend to make selling alcohol below a set price illegal, which will provide a naturalistic experiment allowing assessment of the impact of minimum pricing.
在过去的 30 年里，英国的酒精消费和与酒精相关的危害急剧增加。长期以来，酒精税一直被认为是控制与酒精相关危害的关键方法，但最近多种因素导致人们考虑采用影响最便宜酒精价格的方法，以更有针对性地实施酒精控制措施，从而遏制重度饮酒者的饮酒量。尽管支持设定酒精单位最低价格的大部分证据都是基于复杂的计量经济学模型，而不是基于经验数据，但英国所有司法管辖区现在都打算将低于设定价格销售酒精定为非法，这将提供一个自然实验，以评估最低价格的影响。
