Scotland has become the first country to implement a minimum price for alcohol.

The minimum 50p per unit price has been welcomed by the medical professional and health campaigners as the biggest breakthrough in public health since the ban on smoking in public.

On average in Scotland there are 22 alcohol-specific deaths every week and almost 700 hospital admissions.

The Scottish Government believes minimum unit pricing could result in 3500 fewer crimes being committed.

As the price came into effect on Tuesday, STV News spoke to people whose lives have been changed by alcohol-fuelled crime.

Craig Porter is a 35-year-old father-of-one from Renton, West Dunbartonshire.

He was an IT specialist for the blood transfusion service and previously worked in the Royal Air Force.

In September 2009, he was punched in the face during a random encounter on a night out.

He struck his head on the pavement and was in a coma for several days, followed by a 'waking coma' for months.

His speech and mobility are now impaired.

Des Hamill, 63, is a semi-retired widower from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, who worked as a transport manager.

Last year, he was convicted of drink-driving. He'd spent the afternoon and evening in the pub before driving home.

He was in his kitchen at the end of the night when police knocked on his door to reveal he had been spotted on CCTV staggering to his car and followed home.

He has since undergone an 18-hour rehab course run by ISM Psychology, which provides services nationwide to drink-drivers.

Leeann is 27 and has a history of violent offending. She lived most of her childhood in England before returning to Scotland aged 13.

She immediately fell in with the wrong crowd and started drinking from her early teens. This led to a series of run-ins with the law and she landed in Cornton Vale on a number of occasions.

She says drink was a big factor in her offending and describes her personality as Jekyll and Hyde.

Leeann now works for the Street and Narrow project in Glasgow, informing young adults about her life and trying to prevent cases such as her own.