Shortly before he quit drinking for good, Steph McCutcheon went to hospital suffering what he thought was a heart attack.

It turned out he was experiencing the side effects of alcohol withdrawal.

"It had never really happened to me before because I kept topping up," said Mr McCutcheon.

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The 56-year-old, from Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, had started drinking in his early teens.

"I always associated alcohol with good fun and good times," he said.

"I had had a couple of sips of beer or shandies at family parties then my first ‘proper’ drink around the age of 12 or 13 and it felt great, I felt that I fitted in and continued to seek out opportunities to get drunk when and wherever I could."

As an adult, it took a toll on his family life and his health.

He said: "My family suffered. I was spending money on alcohol instead of them.

"I always say, the worst thing that I stole from my kids was the time and love of their Dad.

"I was never present. I was either out drinking or I was ill from drinking - hungover or crabbit, depressed, everything that comes with coming off alcohol.

"I'm on stomach tablets now for the rest of my life. If I eat anything spicy it flares up, just because of the damage that's been caused by alcohol.

"If I'm not doing the things that I know are good for me, like attending groups - I still go to two AA meetings a week - then my mental health suffers. I'm also on medication for depression."

Mr McCutcheon has been sober now since 2005 and currently works as the Network Services Manager for charity, EACH Recovery Matters, in Ayrshire.

Reflecting on his own experience, however, he would welcome tighter rules around alcohol marketing. 

He said: "I certainly know that it encouraged me and there are still times like on a nice summer's day, you see a adverts for a pint of cider or whatever and you think 'that would be good'.

"But I would lose everything if I started drinking again and I know that.

"That’s not a great problem for me now as it would be for someone who is trying to stop or trying to limit their alcohol use.

"Marketing makes it so tempting. The way they show these things to young people; drinks that weren’t available when I was young, which taste much better nowadays.

"The bottles, the advertising, the taste – it looks so grown up but for young people its damaging."

Alcohol marketing, such as billboard displays, are already banned in some other parts of Europe  (Image: PA) Ultimately, Mr McCutcheon said there needs to be a "cultural change" in Scotland's relationship with alcohol. 

"You can’t solve a generational problem overnight," he said.

"Why are people using alcohol problematically? It’s because they find out that it makes them feel better about the situation they are in.

"In my opinion we need to tackle this in communities.

"The roots of unhealthy alcohol use lie within communities and more resources and funding should be directed toward creating activities and more compassionate communities."