Workers on the frontline of what is being called a "tsunami of alcohol abuse" are lining up behind the idea of a minimum floor price, which would stop booze barns selling wine for as little as $2.80 a bottle.

Among them are workers from the Broome sober-up shelter where, in a recent trend, people are being dropped off so severely drunk they have to be collected from the driveway in a wheelchair.

"Mostly when they are dropped off at the driveway, they can't walk at all because they're very intoxicated," shelter manager David Mawoadung explained.

"So we need a wheelchair to pick them up and take them inside."

And the severity of intoxication is getting worse, according to Andrew Amor, who has overseen the running of the shelter since it opened 18 years ago.

"Within the last 10 years or so, we have commenced breathalysing clients that use the service, and what we have noticed is that there is an increase in the levels of intoxication," he said.

"Some arrive in a stupor, some can't walk unassisted, and others have various levels of consciousness, which becomes a risk for the service and the staff and the client."

Making alcohol more expensive

It is a trend being seen across Australia, prompting the Western Australian Government to flag the possibility of setting a minimum floor price for alcohol.

It would mean alcohol could not be sold cheaper than a set price per alcohol unit.

For example, a $1 per standard drink minimum would mean a bottle of wine could not retail for less than $7.70.

There is significant evidence in countries where this strategy is in use, such as Canada, that it does reduce alcohol consumption, alcohol-related violence and ill-health, but it has never been tried in Australia.

According to the Minister, the price measure will not be noticeable to the majority of consumers. ( ABC News: Erin Parke )

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said initial consultations had elicited a positive response.

"I've already had really good discussions with industry and stakeholders," he said.

"I can say everyone has responded in a positive way, because I think people are aware that the cheap alcohol in our community [and] the impact it has upon our risky drinkers is really intolerable."

Mr Cook said the price would be set at a point low enough to impact only the very cheap end of the market.

"A measure like this would go unnoticed by the vast majority of people who enjoy alcohol," he said.

"What this is about is targeting that very cheap level of alcohol which a lot of high-risk drinkers are favouring."

Hotels group supportive of minimum price

That is music to the ears of the Australian Hotels Association of WA, which would support a minimum floor price, if it was set low enough.

"The AHA is willing to support and examine this concept if it means that really cheap lower price alcohol is slightly increased to the point that it reduces demand," executive director Bradley Woods said.

"But at the same time, we don't see a broad impact across the board on all alcohol which would impact on everyday drinkers who are not problem alcoholics."

Mr Woods said they were offering support due to the broader public interest, even though retailers would potentially pay the price for reduced purchasing.

"The potential for a price increase means there'd be a higher profit on each individual unit, but it also means there'd be a substantial decline in the number of those products sold," Mr Woods said.

"On the basic estimates we've done, the industry would not be ahead, but would be behind on those sorts of profits."

'Huge international evidence'

Health experts have welcomed WA's interest in a minimum floor price for alcohol, saying it is long overdue.

UK Alcohol Health Alliance chairman Ian Gilmore visited Perth in October, and said he hoped the Government would push forward with the plan.

"There's huge international evidence that it's a very effective and targeted way of attacking alcohol-related harm," Professor Gilmore said.

"And that harm is not just reflected in health, but it's reflected in days lost at work, and reflected in crime statistics.

"If we let this trend continue, lives will be lost, [so] I would say to the Government, follow it through.

"Australia has been a great leader in areas like tobacco control, and I think there's a real opportunity to be a leader in regards to alcohol."

Is there a black market risk?

However, in the state's north, the development of a lucrative black market in alcohol has some questioning the effectiveness of price levels regarding behaviour change.

Late at night, in towns such as Broome and Fitzroy Crossing, binge drinkers are paying triple or quadruple the retail price to purchase illegal liquor from so-called sly-groggers, who sell bottles from car boots and houses after the bottle shops and bars have closed.

A giant bulldozer crushes sly grog at Broome rubbish tip. ( ABC News: Erin Parke, file )

"It demonstrates that pricing is only one factor here, and so people who are serious, problematic alcoholics, are still going to purchase alcohol, even if it's two or three times the price, so it's only going to impact so far," Mr Woods said.

Mr Amor said it highlighted the complexity of the issue.

"Those sly groggers already have a high set floor price on alcohol products, and they seem to have no problem selling," he said.

"So the floor price concept is really a supply reduction measure [and] what we really need to be looking at is demand, and why it is that people are drinking so much.

"We've got all these indicators where people are really psychologically distressed.

"If we want to see real, meaningful change, we need to focus efforts — not just government, but whole of community as well — about trying to reduce the demand that people have to drink and take drugs."