Royal College debates whether MDs should promote moderate consumption of alcohol

Abstract

"Should doctors tell Canadians that drinking responsibly might do more good than harm? And should the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada endorse the notion that it has an obligation to tell the public that not all alcohol is evil? Some college members think so. The college’s current policy on alcohol, published in 1993, sees only harm in drinking, and most of it is found among those who drink moderately. Now proponents of moderate consumption want that policy changed, a fact that led to a formal debate on the issue during the college’s September annual meeting in Toronto."