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Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

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Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#41

Post by tehjoker »

csours wrote: post #17

I bought a large mixing bowl, and it had a California Cancer label on the bottom. It's a regular metal bowl. If you put cancer labels on everything, people will quickly ignore them. Maybe it would be better if there was a scale on it, like this is a 1 banana equivalent risk or something, but then how do you determine my exposure to the cancer in the metal bowl.

I think that was the idea. If the warnings were effective, then business processes are affected. If consumers can be trained to ignore them, then the state looks like it's doing something for people without changing anything materially.

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#43

Post by csours »

idoh wrote: post #12

This is a frustrating article, because it does not say how dangerous alcohol is. Maybe alcohol raises the risk of certain types of cancers, but only by a very tiny amount. Relative to other risks, even other risks from alcohol, do we really need to care about that?

> "A public health analysis published last year estimated that the cancer risk posed by drinking one bottle of wine a week was comparable to smoking five cigarettes for men and 10 for women in the same time span."

I'd like to have better statistics than this, but they did try to communicate something about the risk.

The problem with comparing the cancer risk to cigarettes is that tobacco does a lot of other bad stuff besides just the cancer - tar, nicotine affect your heart and lungs pretty strongly.

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#44

Post by 35fbe7d3d5b9 »

csours wrote: post #17

I bought a large mixing bowl, and it had a California Cancer label on the bottom. It's a regular metal bowl. If you put cancer labels on everything, people will quickly ignore them. Maybe it would be better if there was a scale on it, like this is a 1 banana equivalent risk or something, but then how do you determine my exposure to the cancer in the metal bowl.

I was curious, so I googled:

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/general-info/proposition...

> By law, a warning must be given for listed chemicals unless exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer

> the "no significant risk level” is defined as the level of exposure that would result in not more than one excess case of cancer in 100,000 individuals exposed to the chemical over a 70-year lifetime

That feels very strict.

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#45

Post by rootusrootus »

GavinMcG wrote: post #19
msk-lywenn wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to see a study on alcohol addiction that shows that all or some specific alcoholic drinks are as addictive as heroin.

The comment said that it ruins lives just as effectively, not that it's as addictive. Two things don't need to be equally strong or powerful to each get the job done.

That's an interesting distinction. Many people drink in moderation quite successfully without ever being addicted and without ruining their life. How many people successfully maintain a moderate heroin habit?

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#46

Post by throwaway09223 »

hx2a wrote: post #26

Wait, what? Alcohol is a carcinogen? I didn't know this. Here's link to the CDC's website, referenced in that article: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/moderate-drinking.ht... This part from the CDC's website is also interesting: Although past studies have indicated that moderate alcohol consumption has protective health benefits (e.g., reducing risk of heart disease), recent studies show this may not be true.…

It is unlikely that a glass of wine is healthy. Studies that show a correlation between moderate alcohol consumption and health are likely measuring the fact that unhealthy people are often unable to drink.

This is a "wet sidewalks cause rain" or "hospital beds are dangerous" type of conclusion.

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#47

Post by RickS »

msk-lywenn wrote: post #6
CadellFastro wrote: post #2

What percentage of Americans even know that alcohol is a drug? As a Wisconsin native, I've seen first hand the toxic culture surrounding drinking in America, including having a relative die of alcoholism. Still, we don't seem to look at it like other drugs, even though it ruins lives just as effectively as something like heroin.

I'd like to see a study on alcohol addiction that shows that all or some specific alcoholic drinks are as addictive as heroin.

Not about addictiveness, but about overall social harm: alcohol beats out heroin.

> MCDA modelling showed that heroin, crack cocaine, and metamfetamine were the most harmful drugs to individuals (part scores 34, 37, and 32, respectively), whereas alcohol, heroin, and crack cocaine were the most harmful to others (46, 21, and 17, respectively). Overall, alcohol was the most harmful drug (overall harm score 72), with heroin (55) and crack cocaine (54) in second and third places.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...

Of the myriad drugs I've taken, alcohol is the least deserving of ready availability IMO. I suspect that if it were invented post 1950, and not so ancient and ingrained in our culture, there's no way we would let people buy the stuff.

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#48

Post by [deleted] »

leetcrew wrote: post #37
msk-lywenn wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to see a study on alcohol addiction that shows that all or some specific alcoholic drinks are as addictive as heroin.

"addictive" is not exactly the same as "effectively ruins lives". cigarettes are highly addictive, but they don't really ruin people's lives in the same way as alcohol/heroin.

[deleted]

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#49

Post by SoSoRoCoCo »

csours wrote: post #17

I bought a large mixing bowl, and it had a California Cancer label on the bottom. It's a regular metal bowl. If you put cancer labels on everything, people will quickly ignore them. Maybe it would be better if there was a scale on it, like this is a 1 banana equivalent risk or something, but then how do you determine my exposure to the cancer in the metal bowl.

I'll take a stab at the research if you link the bowl? I'm curious now. I appreciate California's proactive stance, and I guess I fall into the minority because I do pay attention to those labels.

Re: Less than half of Americans know that alcohol is a carcinogen

#50

Post by tehjoker »

hx2a wrote: post #26

Wait, what? Alcohol is a carcinogen? I didn't know this. Here's link to the CDC's website, referenced in that article: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/moderate-drinking.ht... This part from the CDC's website is also interesting: Although past studies have indicated that moderate alcohol consumption has protective health benefits (e.g., reducing risk of heart disease), recent studies show this may not be true.…

It wasn't the alcohol in the wine that was conveying the benefits. Iirc, people were pointing to https://www.drugs.com/resveratrol.html
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