4. Other criticisms of minimum pricing
Heavy drinkers will find ways to substitute with other sources of alcohol
One of the most frequently expressed arguments against MUP is that it will force heavy and
Problem drinkers into drinking various forms of illicit alcohol which might even increase the harms they experience. Such an outcome may of course occur for a very small number of the most severely dependent individuals. It has also been suggested that there may be substitution
with homemade or duty-free alcohol. The experience in Canada, however, has indicated that if such outcomes did result, they must have occurred on a small-scale - if at all -otherwise
The overall reductions in alcohol-related harm described above would not have been possible [7]. For example the significant reductions in wholly alcohol caused deaths and the deaths caused by chronic diseases attributable to alcohol use would be primarily experienced by heavy and dependent drinkers. Such reductions could not be observed if the majority of such drinkers substituted other sources of cheap alcohol when minimum prices were increased.