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Alcohol tax urged to fund rehabilitation Alcohol tax urged to fund abstinence-based rehab
(about 1 hour later)
Alcohol taxes should be increased to fund rehabilitation services, a think tank has urged ministers. Drink and drug addicts should be treated in abstinence-based treatment centres paid for with a new tax on alcohol, a think tank has urged.
The Centre for Social Justice said a "treatment tax" on alcohol sold in shops could add 2p to a can of lager and 9p on a bottle of wine. The Centre for Social Justice said that by 2024, a ring-fenced "treatment tax" would put up the cost of alcohol bought in shops by 2p per unit.
The money raised would fund residential rehabilitation services, it said. It is among a number of measures recommended to tackle addiction.
The Department of Health said it had no plans to put more duty on alcohol but planned to allow councils a budget of £5.4bn for public health work. The Department of Health said councils' £5.4bn public health budgets would help them address alcohol harm.
The CSJ, which seeks to tackle poverty and its causes, said the costs of addiction were rising, with alcohol-related admissions to hospital "doubling in a decade". The CSJ, which seeks to tackle poverty and its causes, wants the government to fund treatment centres for 58,000 addicts per year by 2024.
Its report says 300,000 people in England are addicted to opiates and/or crack, 1.6 million are dependent on alcohol and one in seven children under the age of one lives with a substance-abusing parent.Its report says 300,000 people in England are addicted to opiates and/or crack, 1.6 million are dependent on alcohol and one in seven children under the age of one lives with a substance-abusing parent.
Abstinence-based The measures set out in its Ambitious for Recovery report include:
A levy of 1p per unit of alcohol should be added on drinks purchased outside pubs by the end of the next Parliament, it said. Little choice
It estimated this would raise £1.1bn over five years, which it suggested spending solely on setting up a network of more than 350 abstinence-based rehabilitation centres and providing funding to treat 40 people in each of them. The treatment tax proposal would see a levy of 1p per unit of alcohol added on drinks purchased outside pubs by the end of the next Parliament, rising to 2p by 2024, the CSJ said.
This could mean about 18p added to the price of a bottle of wine after 2024.
The think tank estimated it would raise £155m a year from 2015, rising to about £520m a year from 2024.
The CSJ's director, Christian Guy, told BBC Breakfast: "At the moment we do very little for alcoholics, and for drug addicts we just dump them on methadone.The CSJ's director, Christian Guy, told BBC Breakfast: "At the moment we do very little for alcoholics, and for drug addicts we just dump them on methadone.
"The chance to get clean in this country is the preserve of the wealthy. For the poor, for the people relying on a public system, there's very little choice to get clean.""The chance to get clean in this country is the preserve of the wealthy. For the poor, for the people relying on a public system, there's very little choice to get clean."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are not considering a tax on particular drinks.A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are not considering a tax on particular drinks.
"Instead, we are reducing alcohol harm by giving local authorities a £5.4bn budget to help them manage public health issues including alcohol and drug services." "Instead, we are reducing alcohol harm by giving local authorities a £5.4bn budget to help them manage public health issues including alcohol and drug services.
He added: "We have also banned sales of the cheapest cut-price alcohol." "We have also banned sales of the cheapest cut-price alcohol."
Local authorities had the best understanding of local needs to be able to assess, plan and deliver alcohol and drug services and treatment in their areas, he added.Local authorities had the best understanding of local needs to be able to assess, plan and deliver alcohol and drug services and treatment in their areas, he added.
Duty to helpDuty to help
Sally Marlow, an alcohol addiction specialist, said there were "problems with the proposal".Sally Marlow, an alcohol addiction specialist, said there were "problems with the proposal".
But she added: "If we're going to sell it, if we're going to legitimise it and say we sanction alcohol then we have a duty also to say to the people who get into trouble with it, 'we'll help you with it - we'll help you get out of the trouble that you're in'."But she added: "If we're going to sell it, if we're going to legitimise it and say we sanction alcohol then we have a duty also to say to the people who get into trouble with it, 'we'll help you with it - we'll help you get out of the trouble that you're in'."
The CSJ made a similar proposal in 2007 when the current Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was in charge of the think tank.The CSJ made a similar proposal in 2007 when the current Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was in charge of the think tank.
The BBC understands Mr Duncan Smith continues to support the idea.The BBC understands Mr Duncan Smith continues to support the idea.