Alcohol consumption in an academic setting - a peculiar convention

Reinout Wiers, Professor in Developmental Psychopathology - Having a glass of wine or a beer at a work reception or university event is regarded by many as the most natural thing in the world - but we would like to see the UvA break that mould. Our new alcohol policy will focus on fostering a new social standard in which alcohol consumption is not automatically the norm. Health effects of alcohol. 'In a few years' time, we will look back on how common alcoholic drinks are at university events with the same confusion as we now look back on the tumblers filled with cigarettes that were provided for guests at events in the 1970s', says Reinout Wiers, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology. 'There is increasing evidence that alcohol consumption has negative effects on our health. Rather than having a very strong effect on one specific outcome, such as in the case of smoking and lung cancer, it has a more scattergun effect. Besides all the well-known liver problems associated with alcohol consumption, a clear link with various types of cancer, from oesophageal cancer to breast cancer in women, has also been demonstrated.