Minimum alcohol pricing ‘lowers crime’

Minimum alcohol pricing would reduce drink-fuelled crime in Ireland and save a life every day, an addiction expert has claimed.

Tim Stockwell of the University of Victoria in Canada told a meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence, and Equality that there were significantly fewer alcohol-related crimes and deaths after minimum pricing was brought in in Canada.

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national charity for alcohol-related issues, and Prof Stockwell, director at the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia, addressed the committee on alcohol-related crime and the potential of minimum pricing to reduce it.