The University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research has proposed that the Canadian province of British Columbia set prices for beer, wine and liquor based on each product's alcohol content, the Vancouver Sun reported Jan. 23.

Tim Stockwell, director of the center, said that products with more potential for social harm should be priced higher. "Every day in the paper you read about drink-driving problems, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcoholism and homelessness," Stockwell. "The science is very clear that what the population does as a whole with regard to drinking affects how many people die each year, how many hospital admissions there are, how many road crashes, how many deformed babies. The list goes on and on, and on."

The proposal was made as lawmakers draft the provincial budget. Some alcohol-industry members objected to the plan. Brewers of craft beers, for example, said that consumers don't normally recognize the differences in alcohol content of beer.

"I'm not sure this is the direction we need to be going in Canada. It's not necessarily going to deter people from drinking more," said brewer Rob Monk, who makes Doc Hadfield's Pale Ale and India Pale Ale. "The only people this is really going to affect are smaller brewers who make premium beers that tend to have a higher alcohol content. This isn't going to hurt Molson Coors. Ultimately, it wouldn't be a huge jump for them to get below whatever threshold is set."