Alcohol deaths - 'There is still a long battle ahead of us'

Good news is extremely rare when it comes to reporting our destructive relationship with alcohol in Scotland.

We have grown used to a barrage of horrifying statistics about our over-zealous drinking and the toll it takes on our health. So much so that learning we drink twice as much spirits as our English neighbours or that we are twice as likely to die of liver disease as those supposedly lager-loving Aussies no longer shocks us.

So who would have guessed that alcohol-related deaths in the Lothians and across Scotland are actually at a ten-year low? Or that the number of patients being discharged from our hospitals with drink-related illnesses is falling dramatically?

It's something we didn't hear much about during the prolonged debate on the SNP government's plans to introduce a minimum price for alcohol.

That, to be fair, is down to the fact that the first encouraging signs of a possible trend are only just beginning to emerge. But experts are hopeful that this could be more than just a statistical blip, and that doctors' increasing attempts to influence our drinking habits might be starting to pay off.

If the trend continues, it should fatally undermine the case for heavy stick methods of tackling the problem.

Whatever the years ahead bring, there is still a very long battle ahead to forge a better attitude towards drink among future generations.

Grave matter

ONE of the things that marks us as a civilised society is the way that we treat our dead - and the state North Merchiston Cemetery has been allowed to get into is in no way civilised.

Relatives of people buried there have been rightly disgusted to find the graveyard a mess of unkempt weeds, toppled headstones and rubbish.

The city council, which took over the cemetery 17 years ago, says the dishevelled look is at least partly intentional as it wants to encourage "urban wildlife".

That's well and good, and as with graveyards across the Capital it is fair enough that unsafe headstones are laid flat in case they fall and break or hurt someone. But there is no excuse for letting the cemetery become a mess of beer bottles and barbecues.

Relatives who are able to visit regularly can help keep graves tidy, and local residents should report unsocial activity to the police. But the main duty to honour the dead by keeping the cemetery clean and safe is the council's - and that's more important than any tokenistic nod to "biodiversity".