Those stats seem to underestimate the number of people who consume alcohol compared to this global survey data (72% of over 15s in the US have had a drink in the last 12 months, 28% have not), with only a few countries in Europe and Australasia showing higher prevalence (“occasion to use alcoholic beverages” seems very confusing wording to me, is it intended to exclude things like communion wine?):
The global survey says 72% had a drink in past 12 months during 2016. The Pew survey / Gallup poll said 65% were not a “total abstainer” in 2016. I can speculate about why they might be different, such as difference in wording, difference in weighting, and standard error with ~1000 persons being surveyed.
The WHO global survey seems to be more the outlier. Others sources are closer to the Pew / Gallup poll. For example, the NSDUH survey at Alcohol Use in the United States: Age Groups and Demographic Characteristics | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) lists the following stats for persons age 18+ in US. The NSDUH survey also agrees that the portion who abstain isn’t increasing significantly, which was my larger point.
85% Drank alcohol at some point in lifetime
67% Drank alcohol in past year
52% Drank alcohol in past month
A comparison to other drugs for past year from NSDUH survey is below:
Alcohol – 67%
Tobacco Products – 24%
Marijuana – 22%*
Vaping – 13%*
*Far higher among young persons
If one is looking for a reason to quaff the fruit of the vine it should not be anything as paltry as healthy living. Something greater than health is at stake. Call it Civilization. We are standing in the shoes of giants every time we raise a glass.
Try to think of Socrates as a teetotaler. This was the guy who outargued and outdrank the youth of Athens on the night of the “Symposium,” in which he discovered the meaning of love. He remained standing when dawn arrived found everyone else asleep. Ovid and Horace praised the virtues of the good Falernian in their own day. Julius Caesar simply drank it, though there are those who say he watered it down. The Carthusian monks without their brandies is an absurdity - Hamlet without the Prince. Chaucer’s pilgrims would never have made it to Canterbury, never have told their tales, if they had not first loosened their tongues at the Tabard Inn. And speaking of English inns, Shakespeare and Ben Johnson stoked each other’s geniuses at one of them - the Mermaid Tavern - and Dr. Johnson proclaimed another as the place where an Englismnan “attains the height of human felicity.” Little Johnny Keats, however, might have been on the road or in the fields when he consumed that famous draft of the sunny south and noticed all those beaded bubbles at the brim. Poor Matthew Arnold, on the other hand, badly needed a drink when he gazed morosely out over Dover Beach. I highly suspect he was a teetotaler.
It is possible that some of these grand bibulous gentlemen suffered from overindulgence. The civilized life is not without its pitfalls. But if there’s a price to be paid, I ask the same question a character in an old Robert Heinlein story asks: “Do you think you’ll live forever?”
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The intellectual gauntlet of your prosaic post has driven me to day drink (or dare I say morning imbibe), thank you!
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Haha - I rarely drink (don’t want to waste the calories, like being in control, taste doesn’t appeal, etc.).
The one thing I enjoy is a sweet Moscato! Several friends and family members are in this camp. Realize it’s likely not much of a real drink lol.
Although I’m writing down these recommendations on good wines, for when I have to buy one for visitors, family, etc!
PS the intellectual arguments on all sides of this issue/thread are fun to read 
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I’m starting a 9 day course of prednisone this morning, so I’m a tea totaler until the 8th of December. Yippeeeeee! 
Maybe I’ll take the short drive down to Plymouth Rock to reflect on the Puritan ways…
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I’m always in the camp that people should have what they want!
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Well, the article is annoying to me because I googled the writer and she’s 56 but doesn’t mention menopause anywhere. Most of my mid-50s friends have stopped or cut way back on wine because simply cannot drink like we used to.
It sounds unattractive to say I used to be a heavy drinker, but I was! I loved my wine! I drank A LOT of wine but now if I have more than one glass, I don’t sleep. If I have two glasses I get a hangover while I’m drinking. It also stopped tasting good. And @GKUnion - I (and most of my friends) do prefer to “mellow out” with a gummy now when I am stressed, where I used to pour a glass of wine, so that’s probably impacting your sales now that they are legal and easy to buy.
I will still have a Manhattan on occasion. I had a nice glass of white yesterday at Thanksgiving. But I’m very happy just drinking water, or cranberry & seltzer 99% of the time.
And yesterday, during Thanksgiving meal my husband and I were the only ones of 7 drinking wine - next year I won’t bother with wine glasses on the table!
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Alcohol consumption is the greatest modifiable risk factor for breast cancer. It’s also dose-dependent, so less is better than more. But even light drinking raises the risk. Which doesn’t mean that if you drink you will get cancer. I got it with absolutely no risk factors except being tall (evidently the more cells you have rapidly changing during puberty might be the issues there?). I drink occasionally, like two glasses of wine or beers a month. But the risk is not nothing and it is well established.
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More than obesity?
Obesity is an interesting one. It’s actually protective for premenopausal breast cancer and then a risk factor for postmenopausal.
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Ha, my teetotaling parents always commented on how unhealthy and expensive drinking was. Then they would chow down on a lot of comfort food, and go out and spend $1,000 on trinkets without thinking twice about it. Whatever!
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It’s not so expensive when you’re in the business and either don’t pay for alcohol, or get it at cost.
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DH made me a double rum and Coke to enjoy while watching Michigan beat Ohio State.
Now waiting for the Texas game to start.
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Alcohol is a risk factor for breast cancer, rectal cancer, throat cancer and cancer of the mouth (I also have heard it is a factor for lung cancer, but I didn’t find reference to that). Basically what studies have shown is with regular consumption of alcohol, the risks of cancer is elevated. The level they are talking about is roughly 1 drink a day of beer, wine or hard liquor (12 oz of beer, 5oz wine, 1.5oz hard liquor). The base with cancer was like 118 per 1000. With 1 drink a week it was 133 per 1000, if you average 2 it went up even higher (I think it was like 155 off the top of my head per 1000). Obviously genetics plays a role here, if you have certain forms of cancer that run in the family, your base risk is higher and alcohol consumption adds to it.
Alcohol causes inflammation, which is a direct link to cancer formation.
I get upset at the articles because they of course are written as clickbait “Warning labels needed on alcohol, like cigarette smoking”, “Significant increases in cancer risk”, all of which are click bait. Or “there is no safe level of drinking alcohol, like cigarette smoking”. That isn’t factual, that is scare tactics. It just means people should be aware of the risks and plan their intake of alcohol appropriately. There are some health benefits to drinking moderately, and while it doesn’t outweigh knowing the relative risks, it is a decision someone can make. I think it is a good idea to limit alcohol consumption, but that doesn’t mean don’t drink at all. Lot of things have risk associated with them, eating grilled food has cancer risks with it, but that doesn’t mean having a grilled hamburger or steak once in a while is going to kill you (if you do it every day, different story). Comparing drinking to smoking is idiotic, because smoking is so addictive few people will smoke just 5 cigarettes a week, which is roughly equivalent to a glass of wine a day, because it is so addictive, and smoking literally has no health benefits worth talking about.
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I’ve never seen the point of drinking. Me dancing on the table wouldn’t bode well for the table.
I’m sure most here in the Cafe don’t drink to get drunk. Having a cocktail or a glass of wine in the evening is just a nice way to relax and unwind at the end of the day. I personally like cream liqueurs or cocktails like Bailey’s, White Russian, grasshoppers, etc. because I really like the taste. When out at a nice restaurant, which is usually when traveling, I like to pick out one of the craft cocktails on the menu which are usually very good, but I don’t make fancy mixed drinks at home.
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