It
seems to me that the U.S. Surgeon General is “throwing out the baby with the
bath water” in his effort to solve the problems of chronic and abusive
drinkers.
I
have to join the leaders of the alcoholic beverage producers, distributors, and
consumers that feel that they need to work on the problem and not attempt to
move us back toward January 16, 1920 and start another attempt at
Prohibition. Leaders like Robert
Koch, who is president of California’s Wine Institute, and Kraig Naasz, who
heads up the Distilled Spirits Council, have signed a letter addressed to the US
Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Murthy urging him to “reject calls for the
inclusion of unproven, population-based policy recommendations aimed at
consumers in general rather than abusive drinkers.”
The letter asks the Surgeon General “to
consider offering the public an opportunity to comment on the report prior to
its final release.” It also states,
“Recommendations that penalize responsible consumers of alcohol have no place
in a report of this nature.” The
September issue of The Weekly Standard, Kevin Kosar observes that
“neo-prohibitionist anxiety has begun to spread” from the UK to the US, helped
by “alarmist” reporting by US newspapers such as The Washington
Post.
He observes the march of the “no alcohol is
safe” argument, but points out that this “ignores the fact that just about
everything – even activities with obvious and abundant benefits – carries a
risk or cost.” Indeed, he writes,
“Responsible drinkers are not drags on society. On the contrary, drinkers tend to earn more
than teetotalers and are twice as likely to exercise.”
The letter from the US trade associations to
the Surgeon:
Dear Vice Admiral Murthy,
As the national trade associations representing producers
and importers of beer, wine and distilled spirits products sold in the United
States, we are writing regarding your upcoming report on the health effects of
drugs, illicit or otherwise, as well as alcohol misuse. While the overwhelming
majority of Americans consume alcohol lawfully and responsibly, we welcome your
efforts to destigmatize treatment and recovery for those for whom alcohol
consumption is a concern.
We appreciate your care in ensuring that you base any
conclusions and recommendations on widely-accepted evidence endorsed by the
scientific community with expertise in prevention and treatment. You have great
resources in NIAAA and SAMHSA, which lead this country’s research efforts on
evidence-based ways to prevent and treat alcohol abuse. We hope you will look
to those agencies for meaningful guidance and reject calls for the inclusion of
unproven population-based policy recommendations aimed at consumers in general
rather than abusive
drinkers.
Recommendations that penalize responsible consumers of alcohol have no place in
a report of this nature.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to
convey our concerns in greater detail and discuss the state of the science in
this regard. We also urge you to consider offering the public an opportunity to
comment on the report prior to its final
release. This will help ensure that the report provides
targeted guidance to the American people that will be both helpful in terms of
encouraging treatment and recovery and well-respected in terms of its
scientific underpinnings.
Sincerely yours,
Read More at https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2016/09/us-surgeon-general-urged-not-to-penalise-responsible-drinkers/
Or at http://www.rstreet.org/?media-mention=u-s-surgeon-general-urged-not-to-penalize-responsible-drinkers
