Originally Posted by
StevenSlate 
I have seen it, and it seems pretty consistent with most other data I've seen, including that about 9% of people who drink in a given year fit the diagnosis for alcohol dependence. It hasn't given me any new perspective on alcohol epidemiology.
It seems like you have an idea in mind on how this should change my beliefs. I don't know what that idea is, so I'd welcome you to tell me what you think the significance of this particular piece of data is to my beliefs.
The graph shows, as a percentage of people who drink in a given year, it’s closer to double the 9% of other data.
The new piece of information for me was what the beverage alcohol industry already knows - that if everyone who drank, on average, more than two drinks per day every day suddenly cut back to only two drinks per day every day, the industry would have to cut back to only 1/3 of its present size.
To me this reveals that the bev. alc. industry and the communications/journalism industries where it advertises, must use something like psychological egoism to make alcohol use seem more acceptable to those who “fit the diagnosis for alcohol dependence”.
I do not believe any of that should be outlawed. It just seems to me if there were to be any logic to the ridiculous War On Drugs (the twin brother of the Addiction Treatment Industry) then you’d think they should start with alcohol. But, of course, that will never happen. I like what Szasz says about our right to drugs. I was wondering if you had any ideas you’d be willing to mention along these lines.