Age-old battle

I HAVE every sympathy with all attempts to tackle Scotland’s drinking problem (Sally Ann Kelly et al, Letters, 14 March).

One of the problems is that it seems to be being regarded as a modern phenomenon. Novels by Christy Brown, John McNeillie and Alexander McArthur/H Kingly Long, to name but a few, give a good insight into the social environments, longevity and seriousness of the problem, at least throughout the 20th century.

I am of a generation when students from less well-off families worked their passage through university, and I engaged in many activities – from potato picking with Irish migrant workers through pub bar-tending in Glasgow to hydro-electric construction.

The latter workers in the north of Scotland were probably the highest paid group in the country. At that time, a bottle of whisky would have cost these high earners about 12 hours’ wages. Today, that bottle would cost about three hours’ on the minimum wage.

Was drinking controlled by price then? Certainly not. Will it be controlled by price in the future? A rather pathetic hope really, particularly at any minimum price below a public outcry level.

In my opinion, the Scottish Government is wasting time and money and deluding itself by attempting to control legal social behaviour by legislation.

Dr A McCormick

Kirkland Road

Terregles, Dumfries