Alcohol and Public Policy
Alcohol and Public Policy
National Research Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Panel on Alternative Policies Affecting the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Committee on Substance Abuse and Habitual Behavior; Assembly of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Language: English | 1981 | ISBN: 0309031494 | 463 pages | PDF | 10,6 MB
National Research Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Panel on Alternative Policies Affecting the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Committee on Substance Abuse and Habitual Behavior; Assembly of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Language: English | 1981 | ISBN: 0309031494 | 463 pages | PDF | 10,6 MB
As representatives of the scientific community examining and considering the implications of available evidence about alcohol policies, we recognize three peculiar aspects of our topic. First, alcohol is hardly an obscure, socially neutral topic. Two amendments to the Constitution concern alcohol. Intense controversy about drinking has surfaced several times in our history. The controversies have pitted cherished but divergent values about the proper role of the state in a free society against concern for vivid human suffering. Theresulting strong sentiments make objective evaluation of policies difficult. Second, drinking and its consequences have been the object of careful scientific study for only a short time, and the coverage is spotty. About a few things scientists know quite a lot, because intense public, political, or scientific concern has produced bursts of research. About many other things knowledge is rather superficial, and for some important things only speculation is possible.