As the research team responsible for the development and dissemination of the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model, we welcome the recent contribution of John C. Duffy and Christopher Snowdon to the debate over the effectiveness of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol published by the Adam Smith Institute.
Duffy & Snowdon raise a series of points regarding the detail of our research; however, we believe at heart their critique is a broad rejection of the use of mathematical models to estimate the potential impact of social policy options. In the response below we address this point of principle before responding to the more specific criticisms. First though, it is important to recognise that the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model is far from an isolated piece of work on the relationship between alcohol prices and alcohol-related harms and so we begin with a brief summary of this substantial set of further evidence. > > > > Read More
Download the technical appendix to SARG's response to the Adam Smith Institute critique, Jan 2013
