Wow. A study published in the Lancet reporting on research done by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, CA has found that globally, alcohol can be linked to 1 in 25 deaths -- mostly through injuries, cancer, cardiovascular and liver disease. Europe is the worst with 1 in 10 deaths being directly attributable. Other sources: CAMH, CBS.

"The big message is treat alcohol like tobacco," not as a substance that is relatively benign except for "those bad alcoholics," Rehm said. "That is not true."... "So we need to rethink alcohol completely as a risk factor. Of course, we will not prohibit alcohol, but we should make it more expensive so it's consumed in smaller quantities and in quantities which are actually not as detrimental for health."