An organization called Alcohol Concern has campaigned in England for over 25 years against the harm caused by alcohol use.
Their stated goal is to create a new conversation about alcohol and change what they call the "alcohol culture" in the U.K. They don't advocate ending alcohol use, but I'm sure they're just being coy. They have perhaps concluded that they will do more good by advocating for restraint, but I think they're wrong. Saying that limited drinking is OK does no good because most drinkers think they're drinking "sensibly" already. If there is such a thing as "sensible" drinking, no one actually practices it.
AC may be moving in the right direction though. This year they promoted "Dry January", signing up drinkers to agree to live alcohol-free for a month. They got good media coverage, described on their website:
During the campaign, Alcohol Concern persuaded Daily
Telegraph political commentator Peter Oborne to take part
and write about his experiences in the paper. He also took
part in media interviews on Sky, BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio 2
and on Newsnight.
They didn't ask people to "drink responsibly" for a month. They asked them to stop. Contrast that with the U.S. where there is zero public conversation about alcohol use. Here it's effectively a taboo subject.
Formerly known as the Marin Institute, the group Alcohol Justice is the only organization in the U.S. that actively works to counter the promotion of alcohol use in America. Their focus is on the alcohol industry, campaigning against claims of "healthy" alcoholic beverages for example.
A recent medical study showed that senior citizens in Greece suffered from less depression if they drank two ounces of wine with dinner. Well, maybe, but what do you want to bet that this news article was planted by alcohol industry publicists? And who drinks two ounces of wine? There's a ton of research that alcohol use at the levels practised by most Americans causes depression. It's not a cure for anything.
In the U.S., almost no one talks about the effects of alcohol use. So I'll say it again. Don't drink. It's making you unhappy.
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