Alcohol, the individual and society: what history teaches us.

Abstract

Drinkers derive both pleasure and pain from drinking, but harm may come also to others. Through religious or secular rules, societies have sought to limit these "externalities" of drinking. Societal reactions have primarily focused on social harms from drinking; policy attention to casualties and chronic health effects is fairly recent. Drinking behaviour varies greatly according to the cultural framing of alcohol; societal policies tend to vary accordingly. Ecological constraints and social norms on preparation and use meant that alcohol was often available only sporadically in tribal and village societies. Alcohol production has been increasingly industrialized and marketing increasingly g..