Health risk and social costs make drinking alcohol a very poor risk

If I handed you a box of rat poison and urged you to take a bite or two, you would shove it back and angrily ask, “Why in the world would I consume poison on purpose?!”

Every time I see people drinking alcohol, I ask myself that question. I can’t figure out why anyone intentionally consumes something which is known to cause cancer and which can cause a host of other health problems. The biggest puzzle to me, though, is why people consume alcohol when they can look around them and see the social costs — deaths, injuries, addictions, destruction of families, and a host of other issues.

I’ve been thinking about this for the last few days because of a Canadian radio documentary I heard last week. CBC’s “Ideas” program has an episode called “Alcohol: Tonic or Toxin” and I strongly recommend you listen to it. (It’s 54 minutes long, but it’s worth the time.)

When I was a teen-ager, I looked around and saw the risks associated with alcohol — and the grave consequences it caused for so many people — and decided it was a stupid risk. So I decided even before I was old enough to legally drink that it wasn’t something I wanted in my life. The closest I’ve ever come to taking a drink is when I have NyQuil or some sort of cough medicine. So I come at this from the perspective of someone who never started the habit of consuming alcohol, not from the perspective of someone who’s having to fight off an addictive demon — as is the case with so many people I know.

In the radio documentary, I was struck by an interview with one of the doctors involved in setting some of the world’s first “limits for safe drinking” a few decades ago. This group of British doctors set some level of alcohol consumption that they considered safe — and those limits stuck around for years.

But this doctor admits now that they had no basis for saying that any alcohol consumption was safe. He admits that they knew this, but he said they knew the recommendation wouldn’t be taken seriously if they recommended people quit drinking alcohol entirely. So he said they essentially pulled the limits out of thin air. He also says the group was influenced by the fact that they all drank, too, and they simply didn’t think anybody — even the doctors themselves — would stop.

Most people in this country drink — and if you watch movies or televisions shows, you might assume that everybody drinks unless he’s a recovering alcoholic. According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans who don’t drink has mostly stayed in the range of 30 percent to 40 percent over the last 75 years. (I’m a bit surprised there are this many of us.)

When I was younger, there was a presumption that not drinking was mostly a moral issue, but I think it’s a mistake to see it that way. For me, it’s simply a question of what’s rational and reasonable. I don’t recommend using alcohol for some of the same reasons I don’t recommend people smoke cigarettes. The risk isn’t worth it for either, but I’d say the social costs are far higher for alcohol.

There are quite a number of people who dearly love their poison. For many, it’s a hobby or a passion. They collect wines or become experts at different beers. Among those for whom it’s caused no visible harm, there’s a strong emotional reaction to the idea that alcohol is dangerous. It’s even considered a big deal to try to go a month without drinking. (Read what happened when this writer gave up booze for a month.)

For a lot of people, their social world centers around alcohol and they can’t imagine not drinking. I’ve had people tell me that almost everybody hates the taste — of wine or beer, depending on the person — but “you’ll get used to it” and eventually like it. But I’ve always wondered why someone would intentionally “get used to” something he didn’t like from the beginning — if what you’re primarily gaining is social acceptance and “more personality” among a certain group of people.

I don’t want to ban alcohol. I don’t even want to force companies to put warning labels on their products. The information is there for anybody who wants to find it. But I wish more people would ask themselves why they would intentionally take this poison into their bodies.

The facts are very clear. Alcohol is a poison. It does harm to your body in multiple ways. Those who say alcohol hasn’t caused problems for them — and think this means it’s safe — overlook the fact there are also plenty of smokers who never develop lung cancer, but they don’t question the truth that smoking makes it more likely you’ll get cancer. Although there was a time in history when alcoholic drinks were safer than the water supplies, we’re well past that today. The health risks are serious and the social costs are outrageous.

I choose to keep alcohol out of my life and I want that for my family. For the same reason I want to teach my future children to eat in healthier ways than I learned, I also want them to grow up being clear about the serious dangers of recreational drugs — starting with alcohol, which is the most dangerous drug of all.

If you want to keep drinking alcohol, you’re going to find a justification to do so. That’s fine with me. I’m not going to try to stop you. But for those who are willing to think seriously about it, the facts are clear that alcohol is a terrible risk.

Consuming alcohol makes no more sense than intentionally consuming any other poison. That’s not hyperbole. It’s simply the truth.