Hiking price of booze won’t change drinking habits: Study
Posted January 7, 2012 8:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – If the cost of alcohol went up, would you consume less? A University of Victoria study says that’s the case, but Vancouverites won’t change their habits.
News1130 told you earlier this week about the study that says hiking the minimum price of booze by 10 per cent would lead to a 16 per cent drop in drinking.
The study looked at about 20 years of data and found that whenever the BC government raised the price of booze, consumption dropped and health care dollars were saved.
We asked people on the street what they thought and they said the jump in price wouldn’t make much of a difference in their drinking habits. “I don’t think it would affect my consumption, it would be exactly the same, it would just cost more,” says one man.
Another woman who has worked in addictions for years says “if you want it” you’ll find a way to get it.
A man with a heavy drinking past but is now one month sober assumes “the biggest problem was availability not so much the price. Having wine stores on every block open until 11 p.m., I think is the biggest problem.”
A small minority of people we spoke with say they wouldn’t pick up the glass because they are budget conscious.
The study conducted by the Centre of Addictions Research of BC says raising the minimum price of alcohol usually hits the heaviest drinkers hardest as they tend to gravitate towards the cheapest alcohol.
