James Alexander, NUS Scotland: "It's easy to blame young people for Scotland's binge-drinking culture, to point towards the minority who become anti-social after a few too many.

But the fact of the matter is, it is not only young people in Scotland who drink too much. The binge-drinking culture is evident in every sector of our society, and it's not going to go away because of a sledgehammer rule, punishing the many for the mistakes of the few.

The SNP believe that to raise the age at which we can purchase alcohol from shops to 21 will begin to tackle the problems associated with binge drinking. I am in no doubt that this is the wrong approach.

The government's policy does not examine the root cultural causes of our problem with booze.

On the Continent there is a much more relaxed attitude to alcohol - and a far more healthy, more sober population. In the US, where you have to be 21 to drink, police and university chiefs are looking into lowering the age limit in a bid to tackle alcohol misuse on campus.

Instead of rushing into setting headline-grabbing new laws, the government should be carrying out more detailed research into why other places are succeeding where we are failing. Only when we accept that this is a problem created by culture rather than law, will we succeed.

Of course, tackling attitudes is far harder than creating legislation. But look how the public's view of drink-driving has changed. To change attitudes is not impossible - the question is, is the government willing to take on the challenge?"

Rhona Cameron, actress: "There are a variety of factors that contribute to Scotland being one of the heaviest drinking nations of all, and certainly the appalling cancer and heart disease statistics would vouch for this status. Given the unique blend of bad weather and repressive Presbyterianism; add a national unwillingness to become psychologically minded to the mix, and you have a powerful concoction that is, unfortunately, not hard to swallow.

Scotland is a country strongly steeped in traditions; some of which provide for a sense of cultural pride, and some which hold the country back, such as sectarian football violence, an unchanging diet, and reliance upon alcohol to deal with the conformist, masculine nature of the nation. While the Scottish government has passed some liberal and progressive legislation in the past few years, it may take some time for its people's mindset to change. Scots, indeed Celts in general, harbour little receptiveness for progressive concepts such as psychotherapy, preferring to laugh things off and "just get on with it".

These factors seep down from generation to generation and, until people are willing to step away from the bar and face up to their own personal, and therefore the nation's collective, problems, the culture of alcohol abuse and its national hangover will continue."

Dr Peter Terry, chairman of the BMA in Scotland: "It's not clear why Scots have a reputation as heavy drinkers, but generally drinking alcohol to excess has become much more socially acceptable and celebrity role models are conveying a message to youngsters that it's ok to get drunk. However, the consequences are not quite so glamorous. More than 40,000 people are hospitalised each year with an alcohol-related illness and we have the fastest-growing rates of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in the world, and people are presenting with symptoms at a much younger age.

Most people drink responsibly and we recognise this, but, even if we think we are drinking sensibly, many of us still exceed the recommended weekly intake.

When children as young as 13 report that they are regularly drinking alcohol, then we have a duty to take tough action. The government is therefore right to develop a wide-ranging, bold strategy that seeks to tackle Scotland's drink problem.

Introducing policies that restrict availability are likely to reduce access to alcohol by young people and evidence from the United States shows that raising the age for purchasing alcohol can have a positive effect.

Education is important so that individuals can make the right choices for themselves. The BMA has called for a statutory requirement for drinks producers to label all products with information on alcohol content and health risks so that people can make informed choices about what they are drinking."

Professor Tom Devine, historian: "History can provide some insights into the origins of our drinking culture, how the scale of consumption can vary dramatically over time and what policies worked best in the past to curb excess.

The perception of heavy drinking in Scotland as an intolerable social evil is hardly new. The Victorians had, if anything, a much bigger challenge than the authorities today. In 1850, one leading national newspaper lamented that "Scotland is, pretty near at least, the most drunken nation on the face of the earth is a fact never quite capable of denial". Edinburgh had five licensed premises for every 30 families, Dundee one pub for every 24 families, while Glasgow, dubbed "the modern Gomorrah", had one for every 150 of its citizens. But the licensed trade in drink was only the tip of a proverbial alcoholic iceberg, for throughout the city slums there also flourished a vast underground network of shebeens, cheap dram shops and illegal drinking dens.

Contemporaries had several explanations for this culture of heavy drinking. Spirits were much too cheap and easily and widely available. Drinking was built into the very fabric of society - everything from completion of a job to the sealing of a bargain required alcohol to be consumed and plenty of it. Countless numbers of Victorian Scots endured a hard life of unrelenting poverty and grim, overcrowded housing conditions. The bottle offered a temporary escape from these miseries and the male-dominated world of Scottish heavy industry also encouraged a macho culture of heavy drinking as a public test of virility.

Drink soon began to be seen as a threat to civilisation itself. Action to combat it came on two fronts. First, there was an attempt to place excessive consumption beyond the pale through the forging of a change in culture. The temperance movement became the single most important popular crusade in Scotland of the nineteenth century, drawing into its orbit churches, trade unions, political parties and a host of voluntary organisations.

Second, the long-term decline on the duty paid on spirits, which had resulted in a tripling of legal consumption between 1820 and 1850, was decisively reversed with swingeing increases imposed on the drink trade over several decades. The effects took time to work themselves out but over the long term there was little doubt that this dual approach had had a significant impact. By 1900 the legal consumption of spirits had fallen by 50% compared with the levels which prevailed a mere few decades before.

People in the past have shown that effective policies and attempts to change cultural attitudes can indeed control, if not entirely defeat, the demon drink."

Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health: "Scotland has a long and complex relationship with alcohol. Certainly the drinking of alcohol is well-established in our culture. One of our major exports - which might even be called a national emblem - is an alcoholic drink, whisky.

But when people ask why Scots drink the way we do - meaning to excess - I think they imagine that we've always been a nation of heavy drinkers.

While there may be some truth to that, the fact is that alcohol consumption across society has grown rapidly - doubling in the last 50 years, with a particular increase since the 1990s. The consequences of this are estimated to cost Scotland £2.25 billion every year.

One of the main causes of this rise is the steady decline in the price of alcohol relative to incomes - alcohol is now 62% more affordable than in 1980.

In the past, many people simply couldn't afford to drink dangerous quantities of alcohol. But that's no longer the case.

Some like to put our drinking habits down to romantic notions about our national psyche. They say we Scots are a melancholy bunch who drink heavily to inure us to our sometimes harsh climate. That sounds like the drink talking if you ask me.

I suppose we need to ask ourselves if we want to be a nation that can't control our drinking. Are we proud of that?

The Scottish government has put forward proposals to tackle alcohol misuse because we think in the long term we could well regret how much we're all drinking now."

Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland: "We've always been famous for our great hospitality - alcohol is deeply ingrained in our culture. No social occasion is complete without plenty of booze on offer. We use alcohol not just to celebrate and commiserate, but drinks companies have successfully persuaded us that it should be part of every leisure occasion, night in or out. It's become just another product on supermarket shelves, we've forgotten it's a drug with the potential to cause a great deal of harm.

With more than 17,000 liquor licences in force in Scotland and alcohol 62% more affordable than in 1980, it's never been cheaper or more available.

The Scottish government's consultation paper contains a number of effective, evidence-based measures to reduce alcohol-related harm. Supermarkets have been putting profits before public health for too long so ending cheap price promotions, setting a minimum price based on the strength of drinks, and restricting alcohol display areas are all actions we strongly support."

Neil McKeganey Professor of Drug Misuse Research, University of Glasgow: "Over the past 15 or so years in Scotland we have witnessed the growth of a culture of excessive drinking by young Scots. The warning signs of that culture were all too evident in research carried out in the 1990s looking at the marketing and consumption of sweet-tasting alcoholic drinks by young people. The findings of that research were largely ignored by ministers and others and in the intervening years we have seen the pattern of teenage drinking and alcohol-related violence in Scotland spiral out of control.

Increasing the price of particular drinks is being used as a way of reducing young people's alcohol consumption. That might work, but in interviews young people often tell us they will pay whatever it takes. Focusing on the parents might also work.

Young drinkers often report that their parents convey to them the feeling they would rather they were drinking alcohol than consuming illegal drugs.

Toughening up existing enforcement against retail outlets that are selling alcohol to children is also important. But perhaps more important than all of these if we are to change the culture of alcohol in Scotland is to tackle the near-constant images and references in the media that alcohol is fun, getting drunk is fun, and losing control is what you do on a good night out."

Susan Deacon, Professor of Social Change, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh: "Full marks to the Scottish government for pushing alcohol up the agenda and for floating some bold and radical measures - not least on pricing. But ministers should be careful. There is a fine dividing line between strong leadership and messianic zeal. Having adopted a pragmatic and humane approach in its recent drugs strategy, the government is in danger of defaulting to old-style judgmentalism and demonisation when it comes to drink.

That alcohol should not be available on every street corner like milk and bread is a valid point - but separate supermarket queues and selective restrictions on 18 to 21s are not the answer.

Legislators should think twice before constantly reaching for the statute book. The ink on the last Licensing Act is barely dry and there is much to be done to enforce existing law before introducing new ones - not least by removing licences from traders who sell to those underage.

The bottom line is that culture change is tricky. Too much state intervention, regulation and controls can have unintended consequences. If we are to change our relationship with alcohol we must develop the confidence and maturity to exercise greater responsibility and be allowed to make informed choices.

Hopefully in the months ahead a more balanced message - and policy - will emerge."

Tom French, Coalition Against Raising the Drinking Age in Scotland: "We agree with much of what the Scottish government has proposed. What we disagree with is the notion that raising the minimum age in off-sales will do anything to solve a broader cultural issue.

Let's be clear - this is a move based on flimsy and speculative evidence that goes against the grain of international research and thinking. It seems aimed more at grabbing the headlines than any serious attempt to tackle the root causes of irresponsible drinking.

Criminalising 18 to 21-year-olds won't stop binge drinking and it won't stop under-age drinking. What it will do is discriminate against the responsible majority.

What we need to do is change our relationship with alcohol as a society. We should be looking to countries on the continent, like France, where, despite a drinking age of 16, rates of misuse are much lower and alcohol consumption is actually decreasing."

Douglas Dickson, teenager, Helensburgh: "I started drinking when I was about 16, at people's houses and parties. It was something different to do and it was fun and exciting. I'm 18 now, and nowadays I see drinking as part of my night when I go out on weekends. I drink because I like drinking. In my opinion, I usually have a better night when I drink, I laugh more, my confidence is boosted and I generally feel more relaxed, which I think is the main attraction. On the other hand, there are health problems and people who enjoy getting aggressive. I don't get violent when I drink, but have been caught in the firing line of violent drunks several times in Glasgow. I don't feel it would be very effective to change the drinking age to 21. Moving the drinking age up will just create more underage drinkers. The only way to stop people drinking is making them not want to drink."