Stanton Peele

In the following viewpoint, psychologist and researcher Stanton Peele argues that medical researchers have long understood that moderate alcohol consumption has important health advantages, such as prevention of heart disease. However, because the U.S. government has been slow to acknowledge or publicize alcohol’s positive health effects, many Americans remain ignorant of them. An illustration of the government’s prejudice against alcohol can be seen through its treatment of labels, Peele contends. While alcohol products are required by federal law to carry labels warning of the hazards of drinking, efforts by the wine industry to inform consumers of alcohol’s potential health benefits have met with government resistance. Peele is the author of The Truth About Addiction and Recovery: The Life Process for Outgrowing Destructive Habits and other...