Frankly, when I first saw Kenny MacAskill propose his lunatic alchohol plans I never thought they would be seriously pursued. I lumped SNP proposals to set a minimum price for Alchohol in particular in the box filed 'weird fascist announcements for Daily Mail readers that will never happen' like Tony Blairs proposals to march yobs to cash machines to pay fines.

Nearly every one of the SNP proposals will disproportionately affect responsible drinkers more than teenage ne'er do wells. Plans for minimum price for a unit of alcohol for example do not affect the neds chosen tipple of choice, Buckfast. But they will set a minimum price for a bottle of spirits. If the private sector did this, they would be busted for price fixing.

Proposals to stop off licenses selling booze to under 21's may have worked in the short term pilot at Armadale. But lets face it, most under age drinkers get their booze from adults willing to buy it them and small shops willing to flout the law. Changing the numbers isn't going to make any difference to that. It just makes the various age limits on things even less logical. If we trust our 16 years olds to get married and fight on our behalf in the army, then surely they should be allowed a wee pint afterwards? SNP policy wonks may claim they're only interested in what works. I doubt changing the age limit will in the long run. Kids will just find older people to buy them a bottle, and when the fuss dies down and the police move on to the next initiative the same newsagents that used to sell cider to five year olds will start doing it again.

Besides, the SNP have just realised that 18 year olds will be able to buy booze legally on the internet from England. could this be a whole new business opportunity for Bebo in Scotland? And would it be illegal for a 21 year old to buy booze from an off license and give it to an 18 year old outside the shop? The proposals are so full of holes it's not worth thinking about.

Changing the age limit to 21 may have other unintended effects. Will it discourage students from south of the border from applying to Scottish Universities? How will that affect the universities income?

Seperate booze checkouts at supermarkets? Well what will that achieve? Kids will avoid them or get fake ID, and adults will just be more inconvenienced.

Yes, more money needs to be put into support services, and the police could make more use of their existing extensive powers to sort out places bedeviled by hoardes of  steamin' teen ne'er do wells. Local Authorities could do more extensive test purchasing in problem areas to catch out off licenses selling to kids and they could probably do with extended powers to revoke licenses in problem areas. At the end of the day, alcohol abuse is a cultural problem and cannot simply be regulated away.

Lastly, I wonder how many SNP people pushing this indulged in a wee bit of a drink themselves? Afterall, I was underage drinking from age 14 in Galashiels, safely in the pub. Often at the table along from the bus drivers I'd just got a half fare into town from earlier in the evening. We didn't terrorise neighbourhoods, but we had a good time.

The problem is not drink itself. I'd rather the SNP figured out how to tackle the much more diffiult problem of the culture of violence and vandalism that destroys some parts of Scotland, rather than this empty nanny state posturing on Alchohol.