Just over a year ago on these pages I wrote a rash and foolish post agreeing with something the government had done. I should have stuck to my principles.
I was suckered in by a decision to redefine the product so that so-called ciders with less than 35% juice content would not get the duty break proper ciders benefit from. I thought this was a good idea, not because it might directly reduce harm among street drinkers but because producing drinks like this purely as a vehicle for alcohol undermines the respect we should have for a wonderful concoction.
It turns out, though, that the 35% threshold has had barely any impact on the white ciders on the shelves because most of them contained more juice than that anyway.
I was made aware of this by a new report titled White Cider and Street Drinkers* by Alcohol Research UK which questioned drinkers themselves as well as the people who work with them on the park bench frontline.
It identifies white cider as a particular problem, something I haven't been entirely convinced about before because I believe addicted drinkers will simply switch to the next cheapest hit - and the research seems to confirm this, up to a point. Not surprisingly, price comes top of the list of reasons for buying a white cider.
Half the drinkers, though, knew it was harming them and agreed it should be banned or priced out of their reach. Others thought it should be even cheaper or made available on prescription, as methadone is for heroin users, a recognition that addiction is a problem that can't be solved by pricing.
The research goes on to ask, though, whether super strength ciders are more harmful than other alcohol, such as super strength beers, and points to the more severe stomach problems suffered by cider drinkers, presumably something to do with the acidity.
So, as a harm reduction measure, there might be something in making sure white cider is priced in such a way that it isn't the natural choice for street drinkers. Which will probably mean it won't get made at all.
For that to happen, though, the government will have to get the juice threshold right. Why didn't it the first time? Was it badly advised or was it another case of being seen to do something without actually doing anything?
*http://alcoholresearchuk.org/2012/02/01/white-cider-and-street-drinkers/
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