Yesterday I read a one-month-old article on the Guardian titled Alcohol should have labels warning drinkers of cancer risks, charities say.
I get that alcohol abuse is causing cancers for countless people and costing health systems heavily in many countries, and if those charities think by labelling, the problem can be resolved once and for all, feel free to go ahead.
The reality is, those who would decrease or even end their alcohol consumption because of a warning label are probably already consuming in moderation — the informed and health-conscious lot. For the other lot, labels count as nothing.
Frankly speaking, those who abuse alcohol rarely do so for no reason. When an alcohol-related cancer develops in some abuser, I’d argue it is “the reason” for their abuse that has caused the cancer, not alcohol itself. And that reason must be identified and addressed early on to prevent irreversible consequences. Because, if the root issue is left unresolved, even if the abuser is denied any access to alcohol, they will very likely turn to abusing something else anyway.
Neglect during childhood and adolescence, violent upbringings, abusive relationships and many more are “the reasons” behind alcohol abuse. These are the actual poisons that should get their well-deserved warning labels, meaning gaining more awareness, not the easy target, alcohol.
