Welsh government has unveiled plans for a new legislation that will mandate a minimum alcohol price, preventing liquor to be sold for less than 50p per unit.
The move comes in the wake of a research commissioned by Welsh Government in December last year which argued in favor of setting up a minimum unit price with potential savings of around £882m in the next 20 years in Wales.
The study said the measure has the potential for saving 50 lives a year and prevent 1,400 hospital admissions.
Presenting the draft Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill, deputy minister for health, Vaughan Gething, said: "Evidence shows that introducing minimum unit price of 50p per unit would be effective in reducing alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harms and the costs associated with those harms.
"It will save lives, reduce rates of crime, help ensure valuable NHS resources are used wisely and help businesses by reducing absence from the workplace.
"This is a particularly well-targeted measure as it will only have a small impact on moderate drinkers and have the biggest impact on high-risk drinkers."
A separate Sheffield University study said bringing cheap high energy drinks under the legislation's scanner could help reduce crime by 3,700 offences per year; cut workplace absences by 10,000 days; and reduce total alcohol consumption by 4%.
Members of the public are invited for their suggestions on the draft bill by the government which will run until December 11.
As cited in BBC, Wine and Spirit Trade Association chief executive Miles Beale said the plans would just shoot the prices up and without any significant impact on alcohol effects.
He added that imposing this measure will have an impact on Welsh businesses as cross-border shopping will increase.
