Price restrictions and other restrictions on alcohol availability in Denmark and Sweden: a historical perspective with implications for the current debate.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Current political debate in Sweden is mainly centred on lowering taxes on alcohol in order to "harmonize" prices with those in neighbouring countries, although the evidence of a negative association between prices and alcohol consumption is more than convincing. METHOD: Total per capita consumption figures for twentieth-century Denmark and Sweden are utilized to illustrate the astonishing effects on consumption patterns of active government policies to restrict availability.