philcain

Rocketman, a biopic of Elton John starring Taron Egerton, offers a compelling account of the veteran piano prima-donna’s life story, successfully interweaving his journey into and out of alcohol and other drug issues. His alcohol and cocaine use quietly tiptoes up behind him, the viewer's mind … [Read more...] about Rocketman lands admirably rich alcohol story

The UK government kept quiet for 22 months about the “grace period” it gave alcohol suppliers to omit the official safety guidelines, Alcohol Companion has discovered. The department agreed the alcohol industry could omit the information from labels until September 1st this year in March 2017, … [Read more...] about Exclusive: Alcohol safety labelling “grace period” kept quiet for 22 months

We could make alcohol health guidelines easier to picture, calculate and compare internationally by giving them all in millilitres. We measure oil, water and every other liquid in metric units, so why use 20-odd different units for alcohol? It is like a throwback to the bygone days in which … [Read more...] about Alcohol: Why not all use millilitres?

The difficulty of putting a lid on our alcohol drinking for a month or more provides us with important understanding of alcohol and the often bewildering public debate around it. How can we understand the impact of advertising, taxation tweaks or the complex interplay of mind, body and … [Read more...] about Dry January is a vital part of the alcohol debate

On the eve of Brexit and the Budget I talked with Scott Corfe, research director of the Social Market Foundation think-tank about his proposals for a more rational form of alcohol tax. "If an increase in alcohol tax has a regressive impact, you can mitigate that elsewhere, through more generous … [Read more...] about Video/podcast: A more rational alcohol tax

One book on alcohol is enough, surely? Well, not quite, which is the reason I recently put out Alcohol for Nerds, a slim compilation of self-contained pieces on alcohol. Here’s why. The alcohol science presented in Alcohol Companion produced many useful answers, at least for me. But it also … [Read more...] about Why I wrote a second alcohol book