...and Dying in Finland

[sammy]

At the danger of repeating myself, I do believe that the price of alcohol is a little irrelevant to binge drinking because most Finns can afford either €4 (Germany) or €12 (Finland) i.e. the price of 2 cheap bottles of wine (12 units of alcohol) which in one eve gets to binge status. Or €25 (8 beers at a cheap pub) etc etc. Even your average student can budget for this.

i.e. pricing doesn't really tackle the problem but does raise extra revenue for the govt.

Might be better to tackle at least in bars by stopping people obviously pished from buying more, but if I was on min wage serving I wouldn't want to tell those half cut persons that I'm not serving anymore....

Well that's been my point all the time. Regardless of the price, those people who follow the 'traditional binge drinking culture' WILL drink themselves senseless, be it on wine, beer, or harder stuff. Agreed, the govt. pricing policy will not ever change this underlying problem, but this does not IMHO fully justify the "well why not put the prices down then" sort of reasoning, since at least the current policy gives the govt. some financing to deal with the aftereffects so to speak.

IF effective means of turning the tide of οἱ πολλοί drinking habits should surface and prove successful, and I simultaneously doubt AND sincerely wish that they do, THEN I'm all for lowering the prices of alcohol to the "Civilised European Level". Especially the milder drinks such as wine and beer.

As I mentioned before, it is however extremely difficult to 'control' what people like to do, what they perceive as 'normal' or 'fun'. And to what extent would this be the government's job anyway?

Hmm... don't get me wrong I haven't got any Big Answers either!

[sammy]

IFF there is a way for a regular Finn to access everyday alcohol

Now there's the point & the problem in two simple words

[raamv]

IFF there is a way for a regular Finn to access everyday alcohol

Now there's the point & the problem in two simple words

I agree Sammy, what I meant was that Instead of Going to the local Alko on the way home from a long day's work, you cannot expect someone to take a ride to Estonia or Germany...even if there is a superfast means...
So The statement that you quoted is the problem but out of context of what I meant..

[sinikala]

It doesn't really have much effect on me as I don't drink wine, however, I do buy it for guests and as gifts so I have some interest in getting value for money. I used to bring a few bottles from trips abroad, but the 100ml limit on liquids in hand luggage has limited what I can bring back to the airport selections.

I don't mind paying the tax per se, (or should that be perse?), but the the thing that pisses me off here is that you cannot buy wine in supermarkets. The state monopoly system is quite ridiculous for the public, but of course nice and cushy for the Finnish government.

Taxes ok... but the sales should be opened up to allow competition in the marketplace. The lack of competition is not unique to alcohol. The sale of over the counter medicines... limited to pharmacies... earlier pricefixing / cartels in the eye-glasses markets made the news as Specsavers starts to undercut the domestic chains. High prices of food, when Lidl is charging 2-3x what they charge in Germany/UK. All bad for the Finnish consumer.

OK, rant over... now for Sammy's price comparison request...

Had a look on the Oddbins website for Muton Cadet, seems they don't stock it ... other wine prices can be found here http://www.oddbins.co.uk/

Neither do Threshers from what I can see
http://www.threshers.co.uk/wine_lists.aspx

Booths are my folk's local supermarket, they do a decent wine selection, they have a Cadet claret for £5.69 = about €8.20 http://www.booths-wine.co.uk/invt/18646

Tesco have a fair wine selection, but it's usually bottled for them. Some of the best prices are obtained when buying by the case. http://www.tesco.com/winestore/

And don't quote me, but I've heard that some of Aldi's wines are quite drinkable http://www.aldi.co.uk/ (fifth graphic down)

Should give you something to browse!

[sammy]

The state monopoly system is quite ridiculous for the public, but of course nice and cushy for the Finnish government.

Well... the public and the government, at least I hope so, have got at least a flimsy correlation with each other

Don't know about you others, but I do not resent 'having to go' to ALKO to buy wine, so the no-wine-available-here thingy at supermarkets is a bit of a non-issue for me. Maybe it's just a question of what you have become used to. Plus I happen to do most of our shopping in a supermarket that is neighbour to ALKO so it's just a question of popping out of one door and in through another.

As for competition & freeing the monopoly - some have speculated that it would 'narrow down' the selection of wines (which, incidentally, I'm once more quite happy with as it is now... am I missing a complaint gene or something?* ) - I'm not sure whether that would happen.

*) the correct answer is, of course, that I am just an uncivilised barbarian.

[Liam1]

Whilst not a big rant, it is a minor irritation that my whole evening's activities (e.g. dinner party) can be catered for by a supermarket, except the wine.

Also while better than in Sweden, suddenly fancying a bottle of wine or even a G&T out of Alko opening hours can be frustrating. Think that you are right though. Englishmen are spoilt in that with 24 hour shopping and very small restrictions on alcohol sales, we don't "plan" to buy our alcohol so can get caught without!

[sinikala]

The state monopoly system is quite ridiculous for the public, but of course nice and cushy for the Finnish government.

Well... the public and the government, at least I hope so, have got at least a flimsy correlation with each other

Don't know about you others, but I do not resent 'having to go' to ALKO to buy wine, so the no-wine-available-here thingy at supermarkets is a bit of a non-issue for me. Maybe it's just a question of what you have become used to. Plus I happen to do most of our shopping in a supermarket that is neighbour to ALKO so it's just a question of popping out of one door and in through another.

About competition & freeing the monopoly - some have speculated that it would 'narrow down' the selection of wines (which, incidentally, I'm once more quite happy with as it is now... am I missing a complaint gene or something?* ) - I'm not sure whether that would happen.

*) the correct answer is, of course, that I am just an uncivilised barbarian.

I don't resent going to Alko, it's rather close to our building ... about 20m from the front door. I do resent the mad rush at 17:30 on a Saturday as people remember they have to stock up for the rest of the weekend. Cars parked everywhere

As already stated, I just dislike the monopoly system that prevents any competition. They can set the pricing and selection as they want, not what the public wants.

I cannot believe that deregulating the sale of wine/spirits would lead to a narrowing in selection. Look at the difference in beer selection between different supermarket chains. Sure it is possible that no single chain would have as wide a selection as Alko (although I reckon Stockmann would have a damned good try), but across the market I am sure the choice would broaden.

* FWIW I find you to be one of the more civilized barbarians posting on here