Confusing correlation with causation is natural. We all tend to fall into the trap. The classic example is the correlation between high ice cream sales and drownings. Or the sale of sunglasses. But ice cream sales don’t cause either drownings or the sale of sunglasses.  The cause of these things is clearly warm weather. It’s not caused by high ice cream sales!  I. Alcohol Sales Outlets Similarly, people often observe that alcohol consumption tends to be… Read more

Purley Baker was a leading temperance and Prohibition leader. He was born in Ohio in 1858 and died during National Prohibition (1920-1933) in 1924. Prohibition was part of the Progressive Movement. Anti-Saloon League Rev. Baker was an ordained Methodist minister who became well-known for strongly opposing alcohol and saloons. Perhaps because of that fact, Howard Hyde  Russell, the head of the Anti-Saloon League (ASL) hired him to work for the Ohio ASL. After only a year… Read more

Practicing Alcohol Moderation: A Comprehensive Workbook is a practical guide on how to drink in moderation. It’s written by Cyndi Turner, LCSW, LSATP, MAC. She is co-founder and Clinical Director of Insights Into Action Therapy and Insight Recovery Centers. The book is based on harm reduction. That is, recognizing goals short of abstinence as legitimate. It’s also evidenced-based rather than ideological. It provides questionnaires, checklists worksheets, and even quizzes. Readers develop their own Alcohol Moderation… Read more

The coronavirus pandemic is causing serious problems around the world. Many companies and their employees are hit hard. COVID-19 and unemployment are closely connected.  COVID 19 especially threatens restaurants and bars. These have been places where people typically gather in groups.  However, social distancing and sheltering in place threaten to destroy such businesses. Trying to survive, they have closed their dining rooms and taprooms. Thus they must rely on takeout and/or delivery. This also true… Read more

Research has shown that alcohol drinking reduces Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other causes of dementia. This has long been true. Recently, research has implicated plaques in the brain in causing AD. And a cause of such plaques are beta-amyloid peptides. These are short links of amino acids. OK, so this isn’t a chemistry class. The important thing is that moderate drinking appears to reduce these peptides. I. The Study Researchers at Seoul National University and… Read more

Researchers wanted to know if there is a link between drinking alcohol and blood vessel function or health. The endothelium is the thin interior surface of small blood vessels. Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is when it fails to perform all of its important functions normally. As a result, several bad things can happen to the tissues supplied by those arteries. For example, ED is a risk factor for heart and vessel diseases. That includes heart attacks… Read more

Are drinking alcohol and weight gain connected? We hear much about the calories in alcohol. So what’s the story? I. The Study Researchers wanted to find out. To do so, they studied 37,000 non-smokers for five years. Smoking and drinking interact to influence weight. Therefore, the researchers limited their study to people who had never smoked. Thus, they could focus entirely on the effects of alcohol itself on weigh. Some people are tall while others… Read more

What should alcohol policy for youth be in the U.S.? This is a heated subject. Here the National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) gives its views. I. Alcohol Policy for Youth NYRA believes U.S. youth alcohol policy should recognize the inevitability of alcohol consumption among youth. Therefore, it should seek to reduce the harm of that alcohol use. It shouldn’t try to keep young people from drinking at all. That won’t work. Congress and states could enact any… Read more

Many U.S. states prohibit alcohol education by parents. Historically, this is a radical change I.  Tradition Both common law and societal tradition give parents very wide latitude in raising their children. Parents can raise their children in whatever religion they wish. Or they can raise them as atheists or agnostics. Parents can teach them whatever social and political views they wish. And they can determine their education (public, private, parochial or home-school). Historically, parents have… Read more