Safe drinking units are
based on unsound data

The government's new drive against binge drinking is based on totally unscientific data about "units of alcohol". It has been the "wisdom" since the 1980s that a half pint of beer equals one unit of alcohol and drinkers should restrict themselves to around 20 units a week or run the risk of serious health problems. Yet a few months ago one of the people who drew up the list of units back in the 1980s admitted that the figures have no scientific basis and were "plucked out the air" at the time.
Yet the government's new campaign still uses the same number of units. The recommended number of units are quite useless where beer is concerned: a half pint of Dark Mild at 3% is a different beast to a 8% "head banger" strong lager.
I am all in favour of moderate drinking -- I am renowned as a figure of great moderation -- but if the government wants people to take its campaign seriously then it really need to present us with up-to-date and scientifically-based information about what constitutes "safe drinking" levels.