We need a new way of thinking about drinking: Time to replace the ‘standard drink’ with advice people can actually use

When you are out for a drink with colleagues after work, do you order 20 grams of ethanol, or a Negroni? 10 grams of ethanol, or a Pilsner? 16 grams of ethanol, or a glass of Malbec?

Unless you are a chemist, it is probably the latter. And yet, most drinking guidelines presume the former. Regulations in some countries have treated consumers like human calculators, expecting them to navigate a world of “units” and “standard drinks” that exist nowhere outside of a laboratory.

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