Tax cuts => cause of death?

"Brain damages as a result if alcohol has become the most common cause of death among Finns that are older than 34 years old according the Nordic Minister council. On an avarage the Finn intentionally get drunk 32 times/year, the journalist Markku Heikkilä writes in the Thursday's edition of the minister council's webmagazine Analys Norden. There he draws a very dark picture of the effects of the substantial taxcut on the alcohol two years ago. Between 20 and 30 per cent of the children in the area of Helsingfors grow up in homes where abuse, violence and crime is the every day according to estimates earlier this fall."

This I read in the newspaper the other week. There has been a discussion in Sweden about cutting the taxes on alcohol, not all but some, to make it more attractive to buy the alcohol in Sweden instead of going to other countries, e.g. Denmark and Germany, to buy it. What can I say, the reason of having these very high taxes on alcohol is not to be mean but of the public health. Why the results in Finland are so interesting for Sweden are the similarities between the countries, being Nordic and everything and therefore the politicians and media here follows the results of their political decisions. Still, is the result of this investigation surprising? In some countries the drinking habits are better and people might be able to handle it a little better, but not here, so the results are according to me expected. By the way, I read just the other day that people here are starting to buy more alcohol in Sweden. They are not a hundred per cent sure why, but they think that the charm of novelty faded. So should Sweden follow in Finlands footsteps?