SCOTLAND should follow Canada and New Zealand and only let Government-run stores sell alcohol, MSPs were told.
Dr Peter Rice, chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said it would be "desirable" to remove drinks sales from supermarkets to specially controlled retail outlets.
The addictions expert also urged a minimum price per unit of 60p, far higher than the illustrative 45p used so far by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.
Dr Rice, who is a consultant psychiatrist at NHS Tayside, said the UK was unusual "in that all of our alcohol is sold alongside all of our groceries".
He added: "The UK has been out of step with the rest of the world over the past 20 years."
He said state-operated boards in parts of Canada and the US led to the "democratic control" of the alcohol market.
"That would be a desirable thing for us to have," he added.
Dr Rice, who admitted the idea was unlikely to win support, said: "We should not lose sight of the fact other countries do this sort of thing successfully, whereas we have a very free and deregulated market."
He told the MSPs that Scottish doctors were "solidly" behind the idea.
He said: "Across the whole range of medical practice there has been a consensus that there needs to be some kind of price control, particularly controls that secure the floor price."
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