Is it realistic to expect those selling alcohol to demonstrate how they will reduce its consumption?

We wouldn't expect car salesmen to preach the virtues of the bicycle, or a butcher to promote a vegan diet.

But there are precedents for such an idea. Responsible fishmongers now highlight the best purchases for the sustainability of ocean stocks. Food manufacturers have begun gradually reducing the salt and fat content of ready meals and other products.

Meanwhile in the alcohol industry itself, some brewers have cut the strength of key brands, or launched more 'mid-strength' wines and beers. South of the border, the coalition government has a stated goal of gradually reducing the strength of alcoholic drinks, by working with manufacturers.

Nevertheless the hidden proposal in the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill is counter-intuitive to say the least. If the legislation is passed, councils will be required to block licences for pubs, clubs or supermarkets, if they cannot demonstrate that they are taking action to reduce their customers' drinking.

Consumers have long been the target of exhortations to reduce their alcohol intake and avoid binge drinking. But it is odd to expect vendors to interfere with how the public consume their product, and still odder to expect them to work at driving down their own sales.

Supermarkets will point out that they have little say over how drink is used once their customers pass the tills.

Meanwhile publicans, who claim their trade has been hammered first by the smoking ban, and more recently by the reduction in the drink-drive limit, are entitled to feel frustrated. In many ways, a pub is one of the safest places to drink, if the landlord or barperson will step in when you have had enough. But more people are choosing to drink unsupervised at home.

It is encouraging that consumption of alcohol, as well as alcohol related hospital admissions and deaths are going down, yet Scotland is still suffering worse than most of its neighbours from alcohol-related harm.

But an impractical demand for businesses to regulate individuals' personal choices and behaviour is of dubious value.

There are measures that may help - such as naming and shaming venues which sell alcohol to people who are intoxicated. Pubs could try to discourage the buying of rounds, which has been shown to encourage people to keep pace with the fastest drinker.

But there are existing laws which can be used against pubs and other licensed outlets if they serve people who have had too much. The difficulty is they are rarely used. A good step would be for Police Scotland to enforce this more rigorously with prosecutions.

And the principles underpinning the licensing process are already dominated by health concerns. The rules allow councils to refuse licences in areas where they deem there is overprovision.

It appears that the MSPs behind the proposal fear such measures are not working sufficiently well. If so, the reasons for that should be explored.

But it would be a mistake to try to fix rules which are not working by introducing something even more unworkable.