Results: Surgeon General calls for cancer risk warning on beverages with alcohol

The U.S. surgeon general has issued an advisory calling for a warning about the risk of cancer to be included on alcoholic beverages. "Given the conclusive evidence on the cancer risk from alcohol consumption and the Office of the Surgeon General's responsibility to inform the American public of the best available scientific evidence, the Surgeon General recommends an update to the Surgeon General's warning label for alcohol-containing beverages to include a cancer risk warning," Dr. Vivek Murthy said in the advisory Friday. Do you agree that alcohol beverages should include a warning about the risk of cancer to be included on alcoholic beverages?

The advisory notes that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the country, after tobacco and obesity. "Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk," Murthy said in a news release. Research shows more than 740,000 cancer cases globally could be attributed to alcohol use in 2020. The American public, however, is largely unaware of the risk, despite a link between alcohol use and cancer coming to light in the 1980s and becoming clearer over time, the advisory says. If you drink alcohol, are you considering drinking less due to the cancer risks?