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by elil17 1253 days ago
There’s a dose dependent relationship, where heavy drinkers have the highest cancer burden. So we do expect (but aren’t sure) discontinuing use reduces risk.

I’d say we should treat alcohol very differently than tobacco. It’s got a much lower addiction liability (under 10% of people who try alcohol become addicted, while 32% of people who try nicotine become addicted). Heavy alcohol use is also way more destructive than heavy nicotine use.

Additionally, users seem to find alcohol somewhat more fun that nicotine. [1] That said, the literature supports the conclusion that alcohol decreases sleep quality and increases stress, despite what users think. Any objective benefits are likely social in nature.

Overall, I think there’s a better case to be made for socially accepting moderate alcohol use compared with the case for nicotine.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have warning labels though - most people currently underestimate the risks of alcohol.

1: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23438502/
1 comments
robocat 1253 days ago
> under 10% of people who try alcohol become addicted

Iffy number or definition? In my circles I am sure more than 10% of people abuse alcohol daily, and I would consider them addicts. Then again, New Zealand has a drinking problem.

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elil17 1253 days ago
According to the NIH, only 5.3% of Americans 12 and older are alcoholics (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sh...). Factor out the fact that some of those people haven't tried alcohol and you get about 7% addiction liability.
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robocat 1251 days ago
In New Zealand, according to health.govt.nz:

  18.8% of adults had a hazardous drinking pattern in 2021/22.
  Hazardous drinkers are those who obtain an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of 8 or more, representing an established pattern of drinking that carries a high risk of future damage to physical or mental health.
I agree that definition of addiction, and alcoholism, vary by country.
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elil17 1249 days ago
Makes sense. I don't currently know any active alcohol abusers (knew some in college), so the 18.8% seems incredibly high to me. That said we all have biased samples
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