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the Press Release Index
28th September 2009
Good News on Local Alcohol Related Deaths
North East MSP Alex Johnstone has welcomed
the release of figures which show that West Aberdeenshire
and Kincardine has the second lowest percentage of alcohol
related deaths in Scotland.
The statistics, released by the Scottish
Government, show the number of alcohol related deaths
expressed as a percentage compared to the UK overage, show
the figure for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine to be 39%
of the UK average. Only the constituency of Tweeddale,
Ettrick and Lauderdale was lower, with a figure of 30%.
At the other end of the spectrum, Glasgow
Shettleston had the highest figure at almost six times the
UK average, followed by Glasgow Maryhill at over four times
the UK figure.
Commenting, the local Conservative candidate
said "Whilst I welcome the fact that West Aberdeenshire and
Kincardine is below the UK average, it is deeply concerning
that nearby constituencies such as Aberdeen South and
Aberdeen Central are much higher."
"There is no question that Scotland consumes
too much alcohol, but I believe that the Scottish
Government's response, in proposing to introduce minimum
pricing per unit of alcohol, and banning 'happy hour'
promotions is clearly a simplistic solution that fails to
address the core issue."
"I have consistently said that we should
target problem drinks and problem drinkers. Strong tonic
wines that appear to be the drink of choice for a
considerable number of binge drinkers will not be affected
by the SNP's minimum pricing. For those people who are
unfortunate enough to have developed a dependency on
alcohol, then increased prices will likely mean that the
money for drink may well be diverted from other parts of the
household budget."
"I believe we need a co-ordinated,
structured policy that helps those in need, instead of
attempting to utilise taxation to bring about social
change."
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