The Positive and Negative Effects of Alcohol

There is growing evidence of alcohol-related harms, as well as acknowledgement of the health benefits of moderate consumption for some consumers. A new report from CAMH, funded by Health Canada, provides an overview of the positive and negative health, psychological and social outcomes attributable to alcohol consumption in Canada.

Led by Dr. Jürgen Rehm and a team of CAMH researchers, Overview of positive and negative effects of alcohol consumption  - implications for preventive policies in Canada also provides separate estimates of alcohol consumption by different socio-demographic categories; incorporates the alcohol specific outcomes into a larger framework of determinants of health; and provides a summary of evidence-based prevention strategies.

Using international literature and recent evidence from Canada, the report clearly outlines the complex and multi-dimensional relationship between alcohol consumption and health and social outcomes.  For example, while alcohol consumption is linked to beneficial and detrimental health and social consequences, the net health consequences are overwhelmingly detrimental. It is estimated that 6.2% of all deaths among those under age 70 were due to alcohol in Canada in 2002. The health benefits are mainly restricted to cardiovascular protective effects of light to moderate drinking that occurs only in older age groups.  Overall, alcohol consumption was estimated to be responsible for 8,103 deaths (females 2,360; males 5,744), but also prevented 3,845 deaths (females 1,595; males 2,250) in Canada for the year 2002.

The report also outlines that the psychological and social consequences of alcohol consumption may also be beneficial as well as detrimental. Alcohol is responsible for beneficial effects regarding perceived health, mood enhancement, stress reduction, sociability, social integration, and mental health.  However, there are detrimental consequences concerning public disorder, workplace, education, family and social relations, violence (including domestic violence) and criminality.

Overall, Dr. Rehm and his team suggest that governmental interventions (e.g. taxation, drinking driving laws and their enforcement, low density of retail outlets) may be the most cost-effective with respect to alcohol-attributable harm.  However, their analyses also indicate that future research and interventions should pay increased attention to determinants of health.

For a PDF copy of the study visit Overview of positive and negative effects of alcohol consumption  - implications for preventive policies in Canada (English) or Survol des bienfaits et méfaits de la consommation d'alcool - incidence sur les politiques de prévention au Canada (French).

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