A DUNDEE politician yesterday warned that Scotland’s binge-drinking culture “has to change” after figures revealed the cost of alcohol abuse north of the border has topped £1.1 billion a year.

SNP health spokeswoman Shona Robison said she would now be seeking a breakdown of the Scottish Executive statistics—which cover everything from hospital treatment to “human” costs—for Dundee and Tayside.

Campaigners have called for tighter controls on the sale of alcohol, and the Dundee East MSP said there was a need for better education of the dangers of excessive consumption.

Ms Robison said, “Alcohol, used sensibly, is not a problem. But we have a binge-drinking culture in Scotland, and that has to change.

“We have to, as a society, develop a much healthier relationship with alcohol than we have at the moment. It is devastating many lives.

“There are the short term affects, particularly in young people who get into trouble while under the influence, and long-term health affects too.

“We have to start with young people and make sure we get the message across that alcohol can be a pleasurable thing, but also very damaging if abused.”

The cost of alcohol to society in Scotland rose by £60 million between 2002 and 2003, according to the Executive study.

The NHS spent £110 million treating people with alcohol-related problems last year, while the wider economic impact through absence from work and low productivity was put at £418 million.

The cost to the justice system and emergency services was £277 million, while social services spent £96.7 million. The “human” cost to individuals was estimated to be £224 million.

Ms Robison continued, “I think we all knew there was a problem, but when you see it in these stark terms it brings home the extent of the problem. We really need to get to grips with it.

“I know from discussions with staff at Ninewells that alcohol abuse is a concern for them. They have problems, for example, with aggressive patients who are under the influence. It is a big problem in Dundee and Tayside, and I will be trying to obtain a breakdown of the figures for this area.”

Director of Tayside Council on Alcohol Frankie Claridge described the Executive figures as a “rough estimate” and called for money to be invested to tackle the problem.

She said, “No way do these figures reflect the true monetary cost, never mind the human cost. They don’t even reach anything like the true figures, and I don’t think anybody can.

“The monetary cost is not something we pick up, we pick up the casualties. You can’t put a cost on that, on the people whose lives are affected by someone in their family’s drinking.”

The charity director said she hoped the figures would at least be an eye-opener for those in government— at Holyrood and Westminster—who hold the funding purse strings.

“They might open one eye to it at least. Millions of pounds goes into drugs, and of course I wouldn’t want that to be cut at all.

“But I believe that they should at least match it as far as our real drug problem, alcohol, is concerned.”

Alcohol Focus Scotland has called on the Executive to tighten up the rules on happy hours in light of the figures.