19. Beer drinkers don't seem to know their limits

By Tom O'Connell

When I recently examined a study of beer drinkers' attitudes, I remembered the old days when I served as group facilitator for a driver alcohol education program operated by Cape Counseling Center. Our goal was to educate and motivate people who had been convicted by the courts of driving under the influence. Many of them were in denial.

On their police reports the most common complaint was "weaving across the center line." And the liquid consumed by the majority of impaired drivers was beer. "Hey, I just had a couple of pops! And it was only beer." The problem was that beer isn't soda pop, and the drivers (mostly men) had drunk more than a couple. Obviously, they didn't take beer seriously despite the fact that the media had been emphasizing that a 12-ounce bottle of regular beer has about the same alcohol content as a 1.5-ounce shot of whiskey, a 5-ounce glass of table wine, or a 3-ounce glass of fortified wine. 

Now we have the U.S. Dietary Guidelines which define moderate drinking as no more than two drinks per day for men, and one for women. But beer drinkers still are not getting the message, and they're setting themselves up for addiction by taking  immoderate amounts. They start with habit, escalate to dependence, and later become addicted.

According to a survey by the Center on Alcohol Advertising in Berkeley, California, only half of beer drinkers can accurately define how many drinks are allowed in moderate drinking. About 60 percent of distilled spirits drinkers can do the definition, and more than 70 percent of wine drinkers can.

People who understand the definition appear to drink less. Only 27 percent of the drinkers who understand the definition for moderation have drunk that much, but 49 percent of all beer drinkers say they have consumed five drinks or more in a single day. Only 34 percent of distilled spirits drinkers say that, and only 10 percent of wine drinkers.

Another figure that has come to light is that 45 percent of all drinkers who could not define moderate drinking levels have consumed more than five drinks of alcohol at one time in the past year. With beer drinkers, nearly 60 percent of those who don't understand moderation admit they have consumed more than five alcoholic drinks in a single day.

The frightening thing about this is that more than half of all the alcohol consumed in the United States is beer. And Laurie Leiber, director of the Center on Alcohol Advertising, reports that nearly four in five servings of beer are consumed in excess of moderation as defined by the Dietary Guidelines. Also, she notes that beer accounts for three-quarters of all alcohol consumed in excess of five drinks in a day. Do we have a national beer problem?

The Center believes a greater understanding of moderate drinking should be part of  the alcoholic beverage producers' marketing effort, and the organization has called on beer producers to include this information in their marketing materials. The key point Leiber makes is that the producers should be "responsible" and try to reach the vast numbers of beer drinkers who seem to be oblivious to the risks they're taking.

Of course, addicts are known for taking risks, but if more drinkers knew their limits, and abided by them, we would have a much healthier world. Two drinks a day (maximum) for men, one drink a day (maximum) for women. And not in huge glasses.

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