Is it more taxing alcohol ? This is what want to several doctors who have written a letter, made public Thursday 11 October, the minister of health, Agnes Buzyn, who regret that alcohol is “the great absent of the financing” of the fund addictions to psychoactive substances, in the framework of the draft social Security budget for 2019.
Among the nine signatories of the letter, titled ” dear minister, protect the French from the alcohol “, is professor Michel Reynaud, president of Action addictions, the president and vice-president of the national Association of prevention of alcoholism and addiction (Anpaa), Nicolas Simon and Bernard Basset, or even the professor of public health Gerard Dubois.
“Chat picrocholine”
If the government had expected an increase of ten million euros from the prevention fund for the next year, this “is an announcement effect without common measure with the dimension of the problem” of alcohol in France, say the signatories. The prevention of government in relation to alcohol is limited to a ” discussion picrocholine “, paltry, about the size in millimetres of the symbol ” prohibited for pregnant women “, complained they.
The signatories wish that the social Security budget for next year provides for ” a tax on alcoholic beverages based on the grams of alcohol to fund health care and a tax on advertising expenditures – including on the Internet – to fund prevention “.
” The excellent results achieved in the fight against tobacco (1 million smokers in the least in a year) due to the increase in the price of tobacco, show the way to follow, because they confirm the effectiveness of the measures of taxation and control of marketing “, consider the addictologues.
Read also : Drug use among young people : less tobacco in the North-East ; more alcohol in the West
