HC Deb 27 July 1981 vol 9 c319W
Mr. Ernie Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of alcoholics in Scotland.

Mr. Fairgrieve

There is no general agreement on the criteria by which a problem drinker may be defined as an alcoholic, but a measurement which has been regarded by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys as giving a broad indication of prevalence is based on the number of deaths from cirrhosis of the liver. On this basis the OPCS estimated that in 1977 the number of alcoholics in Scotland was 110,000.