Professor John Holmes - Minimum Unit Pricing
From The Addiction Psychologist by Samuel Acuff and Noah Emery
October 13, 2025 · 1h 12m · Season 1 · Episode 65
About this episode
This episode explores the implications of minimum unit pricing for alcohol with Professor John Holmes.
What happens when a government sets the minimum price for alcohol? In this episode with Professor John Holmes, we unpack the science behind the minimum unit pricing policy, including the model working conducted by Professor Holmes and members of his team. We then find out how minimum unit pricing was implemented in Scotland and whether (and for whom) it impacted drinking. Professor Holmes is a Professor of Alcohol Policy in the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR) at the University of Sheffield. He is also the Director of the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, the Lead Director of the Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science, and the Co-Director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions. Find out more about his work, and the work of the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, here .
People in this episode
Hosts: Samuel Acuff, Noah Emery
Guest: Professor John Holmes
Topics covered
- minimum unit pricing
- alcohol policy
- public health
- Scotland
- addiction research
Keywords
- minimum unit pricing
- alcohol
- Scotland
- public health
- addiction
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Sheffield, Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR), Sheffield Addictions Research Group, Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science, NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions
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