Before we start to think about ‘what works’, even on alcohol policy we need to know what we’re trying to do.

Abstract

Should the alcohol industry, or other industries, have a role in policymaking? This question arises when industry misrepresents research showing the health benefits of interventions. Will Haydock points out that evidence of public health gains can’t show whether this is a desirable aim overall, since perhaps liberty and the pleasures of intoxication and taste trump living longer. Policy cannot be solely informed by evidence, because evidence without aims is meaningless. So whilst industry perhaps shouldn’t be engaged in interpreting research evidence, they should certainly be able to have a role in defining the problem.