CHANGES IN the way alcohol units are counted will not influence problem drinkers who down a bottle of spirits a day, a top Tayside alcohol addiction specialist said yesterday, writes Marjory Inglis, health reporter.

Psychiatrist Dr Peter Rice was commenting after new methods of calculating alcoholic units to reflect stronger drinks and larger glasses revealed people are drinking much more than they realised.

Public health minister and Dundee East MSP Shona Robison is also concerned that even the recalculated figures show only the tip of the iceberg.

Dr Rice said many of his patients drink more than a bottle a day and warned heavy drinkers know their measures and will not be swayed by the changes.

“Patients will joke about having one glass of vodka a day and the glass is a litre,” he said.

“Heavy drinkers tend to be well-informed about the amount they are drinking so information is not the solution to their problem.”

Patients referred to specialist alcohol services locally are asked how long a bottle of wine lasts and what is the strength of the wine they buy in recognition of the fact that glass sizes vary and alcohol strengths vary.

Dr Rice said clearly marking bottles with the alcohol strengths works for some people and helps them drink sensibly.

He said, “For some people, and probably more people, it works the other way. I think people may see it as a value-for-money issue.”

A Scottish Government report published this month estimated alcohol misuse could be costing Scotland as much as £2.25 billion every year in costs to business, the NHS, social services, police and courts.

There are concerns many more Scottish drinkers than previously thought could be putting their health at risk after figures were updated to reflect the increasing strength of alcoholic drinks.

Recalculated figures from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey show 34% of men consume more than their recommended weekly limit of 21 units, with 23% of women drinking more than the recommended 14.

These figures are up from 27% and 14% respectively under the old calculations.

The statistics also show 63% of men drank more than the recommended four units on their heaviest drinking day in the week before they were surveyed, while 64% of women drank more than their recommended three units.

In fact, 40% of men and 33% of women are “binge drinking” at least double the recommended daily unit intake on their heaviest drinking day.

The effect of the revisions of the 2003 findings is greater for women than men, mainly because the change in unit conversion factors has had a greater impact on wine than on other types of drink and women are more likely to be wine drinkers.

Ms Robison said, “These figures highlight a troubling reality—far too many Scots are regularly drinking more than the recommended amounts, putting their health at risk in both the short and long term.

“What’s even more worrying is that, given NHS Health Scotland’s findings, the true scale of alcohol misuse is likely to be significantly worse than even these figures suggest.

“We have to dispel the myth that alcohol related harm is a marginal problem, that it affects only those with chronic alcohol dependency, or so-called ‘binge drinkers.’

“We need to rebalance Scotland’s relationship with alcohol and enable people to make more positive choices about their alcohol use.”