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


METHODS
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.
Lindström
Martin
M
Department of Community Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, Sweden. martin.lindstrom@smi.mas.lu.se
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history / Q000517:prevention & control; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013660:Taxes