Scotland's Shame
Scotland's real shame is its Jekyll and Hyde relationship with alcohol - which has blighted the lives of so many individual Scots and their families for years.
Far from a new generation of Scots embracing a more relaxed, social drinking culture - widely practised in other parts of Europe - binge drinking still has a fierce grip on the Scottish psyche.
So much so that all the health - and other indicators - that highlight the real costs of Scotland's excessive drinking culture have been ringing alarm bells for years.
Yet our legislators and politicians can't agree with a programme for action - which tells you that the Scottish Parliament still has a long way to go.
Because for Holyrood to do its job properly it has to cut through all the vested interests - including party politicking - that try to slow down and block social change.
The SNP government's minimum alcohol pricing plan was never a 'magic bullet' - capable of solving Scotland's alcohol problems at a stroke - but it was a start, an effort to take positive steps to face up to the scale of the problem.
Raising the price of cigarettes did not stop smoking in its tracks - but it was part of a long march towards a much healthier Scotland - and a more pleasant and convivial atmosphere in our public spaces.
The opposition parties who voted the government's proposals down should be thoroughly ashamed of their behaviour - they set a terrible example on how to tackle the greatest social problem of our time.
One that successive governments have done very little about - except to stick their heads in the sand.
Far from a new generation of Scots embracing a more relaxed, social drinking culture - widely practised in other parts of Europe - binge drinking still has a fierce grip on the Scottish psyche.
So much so that all the health - and other indicators - that highlight the real costs of Scotland's excessive drinking culture have been ringing alarm bells for years.
Yet our legislators and politicians can't agree with a programme for action - which tells you that the Scottish Parliament still has a long way to go.
Because for Holyrood to do its job properly it has to cut through all the vested interests - including party politicking - that try to slow down and block social change.
The SNP government's minimum alcohol pricing plan was never a 'magic bullet' - capable of solving Scotland's alcohol problems at a stroke - but it was a start, an effort to take positive steps to face up to the scale of the problem.
Raising the price of cigarettes did not stop smoking in its tracks - but it was part of a long march towards a much healthier Scotland - and a more pleasant and convivial atmosphere in our public spaces.
The opposition parties who voted the government's proposals down should be thoroughly ashamed of their behaviour - they set a terrible example on how to tackle the greatest social problem of our time.
One that successive governments have done very little about - except to stick their heads in the sand.
