Part of 3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 3:02 pm on 25 January 2017.
I welcome that, but alcohol is ubiquitous in our society—it’s glamorised on tv, it’s promoted as something that you have to have in order to relax, or even to socialise. It’s advertised in sporting events, billboards, bus shelters, and magazines. Bearing that in mind, it’s not surprising that, based on alcohol sales, Public Health Wales have reported that 75 per cent of the Welsh population drink more than that which is considered safe to do so. I understand that the last Welsh Assembly Government were hoping to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol as a way of helping to reduce alcohol consumption in Wales, but I understand that we may not have, under the new reserved model, the power to now legislate. So my question is, first of all: do we have the power to legislate? If we don’t have the power to legislate, what other ways are we planning to help reduce alcohol dependency and abuse even further?