A new report has revealed that alcohol abuse costs Scotland a total of £3.65billion a year, a figure that works out as £900 per year for every adult in the country.
Healthcare costs were £268.8 million and crime costs were put at £727.1million. The calculations also included the human cost - suffering caused by premature deaths - which the researchers put at £1.46billion of the total.
Previous research estimated the cost at more than £2.2billion a year.
For the NHS in Scotland, each year drink-related conditions cost them nearly £270million. Dr Alistair Ireland from Glasgow Royal Infirmary said: "We see about 75,000 attendances to the A & E department every year, we estimate that in approaching a third alcohol is a contributory factor in the attendance, whether directly or indirectly, so that's 25,000 attendance a year."
Drink-fuelled crime costs Scotland nearly three quarters of a billion pounds a year. Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson from Strathclyde Police said: "That could be developed not just into police resources, but into victim support, it could be developed into the courts, it could be developed into swift and visible justice that th the public are asking for."
The Scottish Government wants to introduce a minimum price for alcohol as part of its plans to tackle the country's drink-related problems.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "It will nor penalise moderate drinkers but it will target the very strong, very cheap alcohol products that are fuelling many of these problems."
However, Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats are all opposed to the proposal, and ministers lack the parliamentary support to get the measure passed. The move is also opposed by some in the drinks industry, with the Scotch Whisky Association.
However, at Westminster the Commons Health Committee said minimum pricing for drink is one of a number of proposals which should be brought in to stem a "shocking" rise in alcohol abuse, a view shared by the chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland.
With a million Scots drinking too much and a quarter of a million consuming harmful quantities, pressure for political intervention looks set to grow.
