Welsh Government's alcohol policy dubbed a 'failure' by the Welsh Conservatives
Rick Stephens, who was previously dependant on alcohol, has been sharing his experience with ITV News
Wales' minimum alcohol unit pricing policy has failed with the number of people dying from alcohol related deaths increasing since it was brought it, the Welsh Conservatives claim.
The policy was introduced by the Labour Welsh Government in 2019 to help people drink responsibly.
Former drinker Rick Stephens said that when the policy was brought in, he was in the depths of dependancy of alcohol, and had "no choice" but to buy booze to "medicate himself".
He added that the price increase had "no impact" on his drinking because he "just had to have it".
In response to the claims by the Welsh Conservatives, Labour ministers hit back arguing there has been a fall in the number of people buying cheap and high strength drink.
However, the Welsh Government commissioned its own review to focus on the experiences and impact of minimum alcohol pricing unit on those receiving support for alcohol-related problems.
The review found that overall there was a sense from charities supporting people with alcohol and drug addictions that minimum pricing is doing more harm than good.
In the review, charities described it is having on service users as "detrimental", adding there has been "no change" in the number of harmful drinkers since March 2020.
Most people that were interviewed for the Welsh Government review claimed service users had been "forced" to borrowed money from family and friends to access "sufficient quantities" of alcohol.
What is the Welsh Government's view on the minimum pricing policy?
It said that the bill's objective was to cut down on people dying from alcohol related-harm and reduce the number of people admitted to hospital.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "We introduced a minimum unit price for alcohol as one tool to help reduce alcohol related harm, address health issues and support people to drink responsibly.
"Whilst it is too early to conclude on the effectiveness of the policy, the interim report published today shows retailers were seeing a reduction in customers purchasing low-cost, high-strength alcoholic products.
"Whilst it will take a number of years to see the health related benefits, this is a positive step towards reducing alcohol related harm.”
The Welsh Government also said it has increased its spending to tackle substance misuse, including alcohol misuse, to £67m this year and will increase this again by £2m in 2024.
What has the opposition said in light of the new review?
The Welsh Conservatives claim that its own research reveals that there have been more people dying because of alcohol since the policy was introduced in 2019.
Russell George MS, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, said: “The latest data about the effects of minimum unit alcohol pricing backs up claims that this failed Labour policy hasn’t worked.
"The purpose of minimum alcohol unit pricing was to save the taxpayer money but most importantly protect the general public from alcohol related abuse.
"Sadly, the number of people dying from alcohol related deaths has increased each year since the policy was introduced.
"When this Bill was initially considered by the Senedd, Welsh Conservatives stressed the importance of putting in safeguards such as stronger monitoring and data collection methods to ensure it did not push alcoholics towards more harmful, cheaper substances or penalised those on low incomes.
"The increasing number of stories about the negative effects of minimum unit alcohol pricing proves that Labour was wrong to ignore the laws of unintended consequences when they passed this law in Wales. In light of this, we must now see a review into minimum alcohol unit pricing brought forward.”
If you have been affected by anything in this article, help and advice can be found here.