Alcohol

I value my time and on reflection over multiple exchanges during the past year, it is clear that Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health (2023) is an important, evidence-based policy reference that has been consistently omitted from discussions promoted by self-described “alcohol enthusiasts”—including several physician communicators who may not be deeply engaged with the mechanistic toxicology and carcinogenic science of alcohol.

To be clear, I am not a total abstainer. My concern has consistently been the persistent lack of public awareness regarding alcohol-related cancer risk, and the duties to care, inform, and warn at the intersection of toxicology, regulation, and legal responsibilities.

Given the relevance of this guidance to those obligations, I’ll paste directly from the report below.

Key points from the guidance: (this being far more broad)

• There is a continuum of risk associated with weekly alcohol use where the risk of harm is:  

• 0 drinks per week — Not drinking has benefits, such as better health, and better sleep.  

• 2 standard drinks or less per week — You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.  

• 3–6 standard drinks per week — Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.  

• 7 standard drinks or more per week — Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.  

• Each additional standard drink radically increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences.  

• Consuming more than 2 standard drinks per occasion is associated with an increased risk of harms to self and others, including injuries and violence.  

• When pregnant or trying to get pregnant, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use.  

• When breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest.  

• No matter where you are on the continuum, for your health, less alcohol is better.

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<edited 11:26am 26Dec25, (1) removed second instance of ‘warn’, wordsmithing, and think (2) I’ve not related these ‘duties’ in this specific manner, I probably didn’t capture that this guidance extends far beyond cancer risks, adding cardiovascular, pregnancy, violence, and self harm - some additional reference to alcohol being related to between 1 in 10 to 20 deaths worldwide might also be added>

• Duty of care means acting reasonably to avoid causing harm to others.

• Duty to inform involves sharing material information that enables others to make safe and informed decisions.

• Duty to warn requires alerting others to serious, otherwise unknown dangers.

No surprise to those familiar with my usual commentary that these duties represent the core elements of negligence law in torts, each reflecting a reasoned commitment to preventing foreseeable harm. Just warming up…>