Health minister Jim wells plans to introduce a minimum price per unit on alcoholic drinks.
It will mean a baseline price on alcohol per unit will be introduced in order to cut down on the problem of alcoholism and binge drinking.
Mr Wells explained: "The level of harm caused by excessive alcohol consumption in Northern Ireland is staggering.
"The total cost to the Northern Ireland economy is estimated to be as high as £900m per year, with the burden to healthcare alone costing up to £240m per year.
"We owe it to those individuals who drink heavily, and their families, to do something about this."
Mr Wells proposals have been backed by Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey and the Pubs of Ulster organisation.
However, a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium said the new laws would be "unfair to responsible consumers and the wrong approach to tackling excessive consumption".
"He added: "It will simply penalise the vast majority of consumers who already drink less than the government's recommended limits."