When America introduced prohibition in 1920, it was the final turn of the spigot. The tap on the �demon rum� and other �Lucifer liquids� had been gradually turned off across the states.

When America introduced prohibition in 1920, it was the final turn of the spigot. The tap on the "demon rum" and other "Lucifer liquids" had been gradually turned off across the states.

Since then, the Western World's socially acceptable relationship with alcohol seems to have blossomed and the crackdown on the "dirge" of illicit drugs has taken centre stage.

As alcohol awareness week begins in Scotland, no-one is suggesting emulating the US's historic stance on prohibition, but the research from Dr Alasdair Forsyth and Bill McKinlay suggests Scotland needs to refocus on alcohol.

Their study found that of those questioned last year, eight out of 10 of those who used weapons had been under the influence of alcohol at the time. One-quarter of them were on Diazepam. Heroin barely gets a look in.

The number blaming drugs alone dropped from 21% in 1996 to 9% in 2007.

The longitudinal study of young offenders makes for stark, revelatory reading, but it is the ongoing in-depth interviews that may provide the greatest insight into why alcohol-fuelled violence has increased so significantly.

Not only has the number of those drinking daily increased from 7% to 40% in the past three decades, but the young men involved in recent discussions made clear they had been drinking for a long time before committing their offence.

"Even when sober they might hit someone, but while drunk they will be more likely to hit that someone with a bottle or other weapon," says Dr Forsyth, who is Senior Research Fellow at the Glasgow Centre for the Study of Violence.

"The consequences for the victim are obvious, and rather than simply being drunk during the fight meaning that the offenders are more likely to get caught, it also means that they are more likely to be facing a more serious charge than they would otherwise have bargained for.

"The upshot for the rest of us being that alcohol makes the difference between the offender going to prison or not, the victim to hospital or not - with all the wider costs that these differences entail."

Last year some 81% drank prior to their offence compared to 59% in 1979, but many of them stated they would have broken the law regardless of their drinking - it's just that the alcohol made them go further.

Mr McKinlay, now governor of Barlinnie prison, began the research in 1979 when he worked at Glenochil - the then young offenders institute.

He was already involved with Alcohol Focus Scotland and was intrigued to explore the relationship between the "demon drink" and youth offending.

"The increased drinking, tendency to blame much more of their offending on alcohol and increase in serious violent offences is really significant," he says. "Kenny MacAskill has already identified drink, drugs and deprivation as the major factors behind offending.

"Alcohol is a major problem in our society and we have got to bring it back into the centre rather than leaving it at the margins. The government is right to highlight that alcohol is the predominant problem."

Last week, despite MSPs rejecting the proposal, the Scottish Government vowed to press ahead with controversial plans to increase the age for buying alcohol from off-sales. Holyrood voted against increasing the age for buying drink in supermarkets and off-licences from 18 to 21.

Neither Mr McKinlay nor Dr Forsyth are advocating prohibition - indeed Dr Forsyth fears the plan to ban off-sales for under-21s could lead to more irresponsible bingeing - but their research does confirm the need to place alcohol abuse firmly back in limelight.