Scotland's had a close relationship with alcohol for hundreds of years. Scotch whisky generates vast export revenues and drink has long been a part of social occasions: dances,

weddings and even funerals. Offering a drink is a gesture of hospitality.

Gaelic speakers have a phrase for it: a wee deoch an dorus or one for the road. But other Northern European nations have also had a tradition of heavy drinking.

The trouble for Scotland is that our consumption now outstrips that of Norway, Finland and even Russia. The Scottish government says one of the reasons is that drink has become 70% more affordable here over the last 30 years but shop keepers who sell alcohol say they 're not to blame.

" If people drink too much it is not up to shopkeepers to decide that. It needs to be tackled from an educational and a social point of view rather than merely legislation. It is not the shopkeeper's duty to police what people drink." The evidence of Scotland's steadily worsening booze habit is clear.

It plays a big part in all crime and especially violent crime, and drink places a huge strain on the health service. 40,000 people are taken to hospital every year with alcohol related illness.

Scottish pubs can be lively, friendly places, but alcohol has come to play a central role in the lives of too many Scots.