Canadians are increasingly hearing from a small but vocal minority — what some might refer to as the temperance lobby.
The temperance lobby wants to severely limit the alcohol consumption of Canadians, despite a lack of clear evidence to support their cause.
Should Canadians be offered guidelines to ensure alcohol consumers understand what level of drinking represents a low risk? Absolutely.
But those guidelines should be based on clear evidence, not fear-mongering.
In 2023, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) controversially recommended limiting alcohol consumption to just two drinks per week.
That recommendation drew international media attention, with many noting the guidance was based on cherry-picked data rather than sound science.
Thankfully, the federal government chose not to adopt the two drinks per week recommendation.
A key player at the core of the two-drink recommendations was Dr. Tim Naimi, a contributor to the CCSA’s guidance. Naimi has been trying to push for similar guidance in the United States as well — again, without success. On the flipside, Reuters recently reported that the United States’ guidelines are likely to drop their longstanding daily alcohol limit guidance in favour of a general call for moderation.
This has yet to be officially confirmed, but it suggests that the country with the most influence on global health policy is separating itself from the influence of the temperance lobby and instead plans to offer a sensible general call for moderation.
Even now, the American approach to alcohol guidance is much more sensible than the temperance lobby’s push for two drinks per week here in Canada. U.S. guidelines currently define moderate drinking as up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men — meaning seven to 14 drinks per week.
The present U.S. guidelines at least take into consideration differences between genders, which are largely focused on differences in weight. Moderate drinking for a male who is 250 pounds is very different from moderate drinking for a female who is 110.
But the present U.S. guidelines still leave a lot to be desired. Even within genders, body types are very different, and so tolerance is different as well. Family history matters, too. That’s why the reports that the U.S. guidelines will move away from advising a specific number of drinks and toward general advice in favour of moderation is promising: Moderation is different for every individual, and ought to be treated as such.
Here in Canada, however, there seems to be movement in the opposite direction.
Even though the Canadian government chose not to adopt the two-drink guidance, Senator Patrick Brazeau is pushing temperance bills in the Senate that would mandate warning labels and impose new restrictions on alcohol marketing — based on guidance from the very same document that included the proposed two-drink advisory.
The question Canadians should be asking is whether we want to live in a country in which the temperance lobby helps push Canada further towards being a nanny state. Or, alternatively, should we be offering general guidance in favour of moderation and have faith in Canadians to make appropriate decisions for themselves?
Evidently, the moderation messaging should win out. This is particularly the case because a moderate amount of drinking has been found in some studies to have positive effects. Peer-reviewed research has shown that those who consume alcohol moderately — usually one to two drinks per day — have a lower rate of mortality than those who refrain from drinking entirely.
Yes, it makes sense to offer general guidance to encourage moderation. But drinking a moderate amount of alcohol has been shown to have positive effects.
The two-drinks-per-week policy would equate having a glass of wine with dinner four nights a week with high-risk alcohol use. To do so would be both misleading and counterproductive.
Canadians deserve balance when it comes to health guidance. Risk isn’t black and white — and neither should public health policy when it comes to alcohol consumption.
Originally published here