Scotland's had a close relationship with alcohol 酒/酒精 for hundreds of years.

Scotch¹ whisky 威士忌 generates vast export revenues 巨大的出口收入 and drink has long been a part of social occasions: dances, weddings and even funerals 葬礼.

Offering a drink is a gesture of hospitality 热情好客的一种表示.

Gaelic 盖尔语 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 消费 now outstrips² 超过了 that of Norway, Finland and even Russia.

The Scottish government says one of the reasons is that drink has become 70% more affordable³ 有能力支付的 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 对付，解决 from an educational and a social point of view rather than merely legislation 立法. It is not the shopkeeper's duty to police what people drink."

The evidence of Scotland's steadily⁴ worsening booze 酗酒 habit is clear.

It plays a big part in all crime and especially violent crime, and drink places a huge strain 沉重的负担 on the health service.

40,000 people are taken to hospital every year with alcohol-related illness 和酗酒有关的疾病.

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