TODAY across Scotland, a small piece of history will be made.

Minimum unit pricing, a pioneering initiative to tackle alcohol abuse, comes into effect.

We are the first country in the world to introduce this policy, which is overwhelmingly backed by alcohol charities, medical experts, the police and wider civic society.

The SNP Government has fought a long and principled campaign to get us to this point, and I am immensely proud that the Scottish Parliament had the courage to approve this bold legislation.

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It certainly has taken a lot of hard work – the SNP Government has campaigned for ten years for this policy to be introduced.

Indeed, our first attempt at passing the Bill, during our first term in office when we were a minority government, was blocked by the other parties. It was welcome that they u-turned and backed the legislation when it was brought back to Parliament in 2012.

We have also successfully defended minimum pricing in the courts - so although we are the first country to introduce this policy, it’s fair to say that it has been subject to the highest level of scrutiny.

The reason we stuck to our guns is that we are absolutely convinced that introducing minimum pricing is not only the right thing to do – it is the essential thing to do.

Drinking in moderation is somemething that many of us enjoy - and there is nothing wrong with that - but people drinking to excess costs Scotland £3.6 billion each year – that’s £900 for every adult in the country.

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And it causes around 700 hospital admissions and 22 deaths each week.

These are, of course, not just statistics. Each of these numbers represents an unhappy story – a life shortened, a family left heartbroken.

And frankly, I don’t think any of us need to see these numbers to know that Scotland’s relationship with alcohol is not always a healthy one.

Take a walk down Sauchiehall Street on Saturday night – or go into any A&E unit at the weekend – and you won’t have to look far to appreciate the tremendous social cost of people drinking too much.

But that is only part of the problem. What you won’t see – because they are behind closed doors – are the countless people drinking too much, too often at home. Nor will you see the children growing up in homes affected by problem drinking.

Problem drinking is putting an immense strain on our nation’s health, on our criminal justice system, on our wider public services, on family relationships and much more.

Having easy access to low-cost alcohol makes it far easier for people to develop harmful drinking habits. Indeed, all of the studies into alcohol misuse – and there have been many – conclude that availability and price are key factors affecting alcohol consumption.

Since the SNP took office in 2007, we’ve taken many steps to improve Scotland’s relationship with alcohol - banning multi-buy offers and irresponsible drinks promotions, cutting the drink-driving limit, changing behaviour and tackling underage drinking.

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But while these measures are having a positive effect, we’ve always been clear that strong action on cut-price, high-strength alcohol is vital if we’re going to make serious inroads.

The current guidelines from the UK’s Chief Medical Officers is that men and women should consume no more than 14 units of alcohol per week. Currently in Scotland, you can buy all of those units for just £2.52.

But that is all about to change. From today, alcohol retailers in Scotland – whether it’s a licensed or an off-licensed premises – can only sell alcoholic drinks at a price above 50p per unit of alcohol.

This price per unit has been carefully calculated. In practice, many alcoholic drinks – particularly those sold in pubs – are already sold well above 50p per unit, so you won’t notice any difference. But it ensures that no one is able to buy the cut-price, high-strength alcohol which we know is so strongly associated with hazardous and harmful drinking.

Research shows that the move is expected to save 392 lives in the first five years of implementation. Hospital admissions could be reduced by thousands.

I have never pretended that minimum pricing would be a silver bullet, a panacea to solve Scotland’s alcohol problem in its entirety – but equally, I’ve always been clear that we will never seriously improve Scotland’s relationship with alcohol long-term without it.

There is much anticipation about this new policy from beyond our shores - in terms of the global public health community, it’s no exaggeration to say that the world is watching Scotland.

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Closer to home, both Wales and Ireland are already following our lead and working to introduce minimum pricing – and we are happy to share our experiences and expertise with them and others.

For all of us, today is perhaps an opportunity to reflect on our own relationship with alcohol, and consider honestly if our own drinking – while perhaps not at dangerous levels – might not be doing us any favours in the long term.

Today, I hope, marks a new chapter in the history of Scotland’s relationship with alcohol – and a major step forward in improving our nation’s health