Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Dr. Vivek Murthy’s report cites studies linking alcoholic beverages to at least seven malignancies, including breast cancer. But to add warning labels, Congress would have to act.

The advisory called for updating labels on all alcoholic beverages with a warning that drinking heightens the risk for at least seven cancers, including common ones like breast and colon cancers. | Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Alcohol is a leading preventable cause of cancer, and alcoholic beverages should carry a warning label as packs of cigarettes do, the U.S. surgeon general said on Friday.

It is the latest salvo in a fierce debate about the risks and benefits of moderate drinking as the influential U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans are about to be updated. For decades, moderate drinking was said to help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

That perception has been embedded in the dietary advice given to Americans. But growing research has linked drinking, sometimes even within the recommended limits, to various types of cancer.

Labels currently affixed to bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages warn about drinking while pregnant or before driving and operating other machinery, and about general “health risks.” » | Roni Caryn Rabin | Friday, January 3, 2025

Christ Almighty! Here we go again! The Puritans are out in force! Yet another carcinogen: alcohol. They’ve killed your smoking pleasure, so now they want to kill your drinking pleasure too! It would be far better if these health freaks were to concentrate on the drug culture over there: hard and soft drugs. And all that junk people put in their mouths that they pretend is food. Americans were far healthier — and slimmer — when they enjoyed a smoke and a drink in moderation.

What these people want us all to do is become automatons: Eat, sleep, go to work, pay taxes — rinse and repeat until God calls you home! And if it takes too long and you fail, you'll be sent into an old folks’ facility and stare at the ceiling, ga-ga, until God finds a space for you in one of his mansions in the sky! Pleasure is a thing of the past. How sh*** life has become!

As a person who has had several near-death-experiences, and has survived to tell the tale, take this advice from me: Enjoy your life your way, each and every day, because we never know when our time is up. I know this from bitter experience. But a few words of caution: Exercise moderation in all things! A little bit of what you fancy never did anyone any real harm. These health freaks have become a PITA! – © Mark Alexander