MINIMUM alcohol pricing will save lives across local communities, according to a Dumbarton-based alcohol addiction treatment service.

DACA (Dumbarton Area Council on Alcohol), which provides advice, information and counselling for people affected by alcohol-related problems, was responding to the Scottish Government’s legal victory in the Supreme Court last week over plans to introduce alcohol minimum unit pricing throughout the country.

Last Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court removed the legal barriers to the implementation of the Scottish Government’s Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012.

It means that, in the near future, the minimum price of alcoholic drinks will be set in law – likely to be 50p per unit.

The law will mostly affect supermarket and off-licence sales of white ciders, super-strength beer and so-called “value” spirits – identified as having the most harmful impact on drinkers.

Cathie Dennett, director of DACA, said: “This is a really important outcome for our whole community, and I’m delighted that the Scottish Government has led the way on this fight for many years.

“Scotland is sadly over-represented in the most worrying health statistics linked to alcohol misuse, and so we need to be pioneers in trialling innovative measures to tackle this problem at every level.”

The current health guidelines around drinking recommend that, to keep health risks from alcohol to a low level, it is safest not to drink more than 14 units in a whole week.

However, alcohol is priced so cheaply that a drinker could buy 14 units of alcohol for less than £3.

A recent Scottish Health Survey showed one in four Scots are drinking at hazardous or harmful levels, with over a third of men drinking more than the maximum recommended 14 units per week.

It is the direct cause of early deaths for more than a 1,000 people in Scotland every year. In the last five years, whilst this legislation has been held up in the appeal courts, there have been almost 6,000 drink-related deaths in Scotland.

In West Dunbartonshire alone, more than 130 people have died.

Ms Dennett told the Reporter: “DACA supports any steps which contribute to harm-reduction and will continue to advocate for healthy, positive behaviours around drinking.

“This includes educating and informing people about the impacts of alcohol on their health and wellbeing, as well as providing the necessary support for people to get their drinking under control.”

Leven councillor Jim Bollan added: “This is a welcome step in an attempt to reduce the use of the most dangerous types of cheap alcohol, mostly sold by supermarkets, particularly ciders and cheap beer which are increasing the health risks to consumers.”

However, the legal victory by the Scottish Government has not been universally welcomed.

Kenny Alexander, Scottish spokesperson for Drinkers’ Voice, said: “The poor, the young and the moderate majority are being made to pay the price for the excessive drinking habits of a few middle aged and middle class drinkers.

“It won’t be the ideologically driven Rioja drinking medics and academics, who have campaigned for this measure, that will feel the pinch but the average man and woman that enjoys the simple pleasure of a drink at a price they can afford.

“As a Scotsman, I feel that this decision, which will inevitably drive up the cost of whisky is an attack on our culture and our heritage.”

Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton and the Vale’s MSP, said: “Scotland has had a difficult relationship with alcohol for many years but Minimum Unit Pricing is not a magic bullet to solve the problem. We need a comprehensive and fully-funded strategy to tackle problem drinking.

“Minimum Unit Pricing will put £140 million a year into the pockets of supermarket chains without raising a single penny for local support services.

“The Scottish Government has reduced the funding for alcohol and drug partnerships by 24 per cent in recent years, cutting support for people including the poorest in the most deprived communities.”

But Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “This is a historic and far-reaching judgment and a landmark moment in our ambition to turn around Scotland’s troubled relationship with alcohol.

“In a ruling of global significance, the UK Supreme Court has unanimously backed our pioneering and life-saving alcohol pricing policy.

"This has been a long journey and in the five years since the act was passed, alcohol related deaths in Scotland have increased. With alcohol available for sale at just 18 pence a unit, that death toll remains unacceptably high.

“Given the clear and proven link between consumption and harm, minimum pricing is the most effective and efficient way to tackle the cheap, high strength alcohol that causes so much damage to so many families.”