William Brangham:
That's right.
Canadian health authorities had previously said that a low-risk amount of alcohol was about 10 drinks per week. But, just recently, a panel of advisers to the government, citing some of this research about alcohol's impacts, suggested lowering that to two drinks per week.
For more on all of this, I'm joined by Dr. Tim Naimi. He's an alcohol epidemiologist and the director of the University of Victoria's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.
Dr. Naimi, great to have you on the "NewsHour."
Before we get to this changing guidance, can you just remind our audience, what do we know about alcohol's impact on us?
Dr. Tim Naimi, University of Victoria: Sure.
Well, alcohol is one of the leading behavior-related causes of health problems and deaths, and also some social problems and economic costs, ranging from things like injuries and accidents, to cancers, and, actually, heart and cardiovascular disease.
So it causes a wide range of health effects. And, of course, those have been long appreciated at high — high levels of consumption, but even for some lower levels as well.
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