Swiss Roll out the Barrel
Beer drinking linked to other substance abuse amongst young men in the Swiss Army. Wine is largely the alcoholic beverage of choice in Switzerland, but if you are in the Swiss Army and if beer is your preference you are also more likely to be a binge drinker as well as abuse other substances. But does your choice of booze also mark you out as being more likely to abuse drugs? The answer according to this study would appear to be ‘yes’.
The study looked into and compared the drinking culture amongst young men in the Swiss Army, specifically assessing risk patterns in both beer and wine drinkers. Published in The European Journal of Public Health the study concludes that there are more negative consequences associated with beer drinking compared to wine.
The paper entitled, Beverage Preferences and Associated Drinking Patterns, Consequences and other Substance use Behaviours compared beer and wine drinkers to see if there was any link to a an associated risk of substance abuse.
Over five thousand Swiss men who were drinkers for at least twelve months prior took part in the Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). Associations were measured between preference for a particular beverage and the following factors:
1. drinking patterns,
2. negative alcohol-related consequences and
3. the (at-risk) use of cigarettes, cannabis and other illicit drugs.
It was found that the men who preferred beer were also associated with risky drinking patterns and the use of illicit substances. However, men who preferred wine had lower-risk alcohol consumption and were less likely to abuse other substances.
