Controversial doctor stands by alcohol consumption guidelines

The doctor who hit the headlines last week for describing alcohol consumption guidelines as "plucked out of the air" has clarified his position in an exclusive interview with The Publican.

Dr Richard Smith sat on the working party who developed the consumption guidelines in 1986, and made the news recently when he claimed the guidelines were based on an "intelligent guess".

But Smith told The Publican that he stands by the guidelines, which suggest no more than 21 units for men and 14 units for women a week. "I think it is a complete non-sequitur to say that because these guidelines weren't based on the most solid scientific evidence, it means that they were in some way useless", he said.

The initial comments from Smith came after media coverage focusing on "middle class binge drinking". Smith agreed that this is a problem, but highlighted the difficulties of settling upon unanimous alcohol guidelines. "Drinking a bottle of wine with almost every meal gets you into pretty substantial amounts of units", he said. "But it's a very complicated business trying to work out what's safe, because alcohol can cause so many different medical and social problems".

Smith has also called on pubs to play their part in informing the public about what is a healthy amount to drink.

"Pubs can raise awareness, and they must have a role. But with safe limits, pubs are in a tricky position because people are inclined not to believe what they say as there's clearly a vested interest in selling alcohol".