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May 26, 2012
Monopoly holds back binge drinking - study
Published: 1 Sep 10 07:58 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/28698/20100901/
The abolition of the Swedish state alcohol retail monopoly, Systembolaget, would lead to an increase in binge drinking, alcohol-related deaths and sick leave, according to a new study from Stockholm University, reported SVT news programme Rapport.
- Court raises glass to late night outdoor drinking (9 May 10)
- Drunken Swedes kicked out of Denmark (1 May 10)
- Swedish liquor stores shuttered by PC update (22 Apr 10)
"Systembolaget's existence is questioned from time to time, so it is good for both politicians and the public to know what the consequences of such a change would be," said professor Thor Norström at the institute for social research to Rapport.
The study has also looked at an alternative scenario with Systembolaget's 400 stores replaced with 800 privately-owned, but controlled, stores licensed to sell alcohol and concluded that alcohol consumption would also increase, but only by 17 percent.
The study is, at least in part, based on experiences gained from when full-strength beer was sold in retail stores in the 1960s and SVT asked Norström if Swedes had not perhaps become more mature and informed about the adverse effects of alcohol since then.
"You never know. Drinking patterns and culture are sluggish processes," he said.
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Equally, I see no reason why sales could not be made available in supermarkets, etc. A 37% increase in sales is good for...hmmm...the manufacturer /distributor/ seller.
What,however, does puzzle me is the hypocritical double standard between alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol-related disorders cost the health services in western countries an average of 6 times what smoking related disorders cost.
So, yes, make alcohol more available - and tax it higher (as with tobacco) to cover the real costs to society of this 'so called freedom'.
It is a bad policy decision to end government retail mononpoly!
Theres no such thing as popping out to buy a bottle of wine on a Saturday night because you have some people over no, you have to stock up because the damp dump is closed. SO Swedes are forced to stockpile their booze, hence buying more!
I think they got their figures from the random number generators.
They need to look at the Danish model. The Danes have a much more open attitude to alcohol and have far less issues than Sweden. The more you restrict anything, the more people abuse it. Have teenagers not taught Sweden anything!?
It makes no sense to me that monopoly holds back consumption of alcohol .Only an agent of the Systemsbolaget can have that kind of a conclusion .Reality is that drinkers will stock up , even if the store was open for only one day in a week.
Those who are seriously interested in reducing the consuption of alcohol in Sweden are better off starting within the families .The habit of abusing alcohol usually begins in a home , within the family . I think there should be a rule that forbids parents from entering alcohol shops / bars followed by their small children . A child who accompanies her / his parent to these places is exposed to the notion that drinking is fun . These kids start "drinking" by imitation
I don't accept the figures in this study, they are estimated and therefore made-up, I don't accept either the argument about binge drinking.
Just extend the opening hours and I think you'll find that people are content with the system on the whole.
I wouldn't have said this 10 years ago, but today, I like Systembolaget, which offers quality products and services. Last time I was there, a clerk asked if he could help me (I was searching for recommendations published in newspaper articles).
What a streach !!!
A bottle of Whisky from Scotland will be of the same quality no metter where one buys it from , right ?
Bringe drinking is done in pubs and bars so using that exceuse for the pitiful state of System is just unproven.
Private liquor stores do not create alcoholics...alcoholism creates alcoholics. It seems there's more of a revenue incentive for the government to keep things the way they are, although I think that's a bit short-sighted. Privatize it and the government could probably increase revenues through taxes and licenses.
"Oooo you went to green sign and got a green sign bag? I wonder what kind of naughty is inside there! You're BAAAD!"
"Oooo, you went on the Viking line and bought a wheelbarrow of Heineken and Koskenkorva? You're hardcore!"
"Oooo, you can act the biggest drunken fool at the club? You must be one bad dude"
I don't buy the arguement that Green Sign has evolved to be a "well run expert on spirits for tbe benefit of it's customers". No they are a goverment run/instituted bungplug measure to prevent excess alcohol getting into the hands of the serfs of sweden. That idea has been flatly proved false. This "study" is bunk.
But on the west and south coast? You gotta be kidding!
I don't know anyone who offered me anything to drink that was bought from systemet for a long time around here. It is all imported from Germany.
After a while it will go back to normal levels once people get tired of drinking all the time just because they can.
The most sensible suggestion to come out of these comments pops out from you.Thanks you. Systembolaget simply needs to update it's marketing strategies to better serve the modern age.
OOOps. And as an additional benefit it could be more jobs for people.
#12 Youdee
And as you rightly point out, the profits are recycled into the society - as opposed to shareholder's pockets.
But,hey, this is a stable democracy and there will always be those whose main sporting activity is the bouncing of conspiracy theories.
less bad effects, more good effects, sound quality, friendly cashiers, etc.
just have my life all planned out, must be better than I run ... my own life.
the sole purpose of life is to make the enlightened happy, fulfilled and satisfied, I suppose. what do I know after all.
Is it a monopoly really? Or a monopoly of distribution via stores only?
Just a thought.
My wife sums all this stuff up beautifully: "People ARE stupid."
There is good medical evidence that regular consumption of ethanol is healthy, and even heavy drinkers live longer than nondrinkers.'
Only someone who has regularly overdone the alcohol could write such complete rubbish.
If there is medical evidence quote the source.
monopoly on distribution is a form of monopoly I guess, not on the production side though.
Let's have only one chain shoe store, I believe my wife won't waste as much money on those things. Monopoly distribution rocks. It's all for our own well being, you see.
Alcohol Intake Linked to Risk for Diabetes, Insulin Secretion
In a new study, moderate daily alcohol intake was linked to a reduced risk for incident diabetes and to lower insulin secretion in patients assigned to ...
News, Medscape Medical News CME, October 2009
Lots more where that came from. Open your mind, and please refrain from ad hominem attacks, especially when you know nothing about me.
Thing is, anyone with half a brain knows that system causes more problems than it solves. That combined with the weird attitude most swedes have about drinking is a huge probolem. Maybe having system in the first place was a source of that thinking.
Only in Sweden...
It's not ok to go out after work and have a couple drinks with friends or co-workers. If you're seen out at a pub during the week you're labeled as trashy or a junkie or an alcoholic.
BUT
You can binge drink till you pass out and be sh#t-faced all day friday and saturday and it's ok. This is the only country I've been in where you see people passed out on the street, in parks, in squares in the middle of town etc. on a regular basis and nobody seems to have a problem with it. On top of that there's the p#ss, puking, spitting and snus / fags everywhere.
Swedes and the swedish government need to wake up and realize that having every little detail of life micro-managed by someone else won't solve society's problems. People need to take responsibilty for themselves and be brave enough to tell the government and old jante-style traditions where to go.
So you are saying that in Sweden, one can only get spirits from Systembolaget?
The goverment monopoly is a joke. To all you who say - "Selling goverment companies is not good because they are great revenue for the goverment."
Getting rid of the system would not be getting rid of the taxes - it would be allowing customers to choose and get either better service, price or convenience.
If you let large supermarkes sell it, they will provide a better price.
Meanwhile - specialist stores would open up and provide better service and knowledge at at slight premium.
Corner shops would sell it at a premium because they offer convenience.
Just like in every other modern country - other than Canada (they are also still a little backwards this way)
It really is time the rest of Europe (& elsewhere) woke up to the fact that Sweden is obsessed by its own bloated PR puffs and rhetoric. The EU should simply stop this continuing monopolistic crap. If there was a health/social concern, as others have remarked, what about tobacco sales? And what about Snus....the only EU country still permitting its sale!
In Sweden, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01421.x/pdf
somewhere between 20 and 30 per100,000.
In the Netherlands
http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/bevolking/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2004/2004-1567-wm.htm
or about 5 per 100,000 for women and 20 per 100,000 for men.
That's about half.
Systembolaget vs. Free Market...
I guess we must conclude, then, that Swedes can't handle the responsibility of easy access to alcohol? Thankfully the Swedish state is there to watch over them.
" The most effective deterrent against alcohol consumption in Sweden is the state monopoly of its sale"
The fact is the Swedes consumed less alcohol than most other nations within the EU (less than 5 liters per year, in terms of pure alcohol, compared with more than 11 liters in France and Portugal). But is true that Swedish moose have issues with alcohol. They don't recognize the difference between fermented and non-fermented apples.
Wow - I don't think this guy know anything about economics.