Dry January

Until today, I had never heard of "Dry January".  I learned about it this morning from an article in The Harvard Gazette:  "How to think about not drinking:  For starters, treat Dry January as an experiment, not a punishment, addiction specialist says."  

Remember Prohibition (in history; in the United States)?  It didn't work, did it?

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania was decidedly a dry town when I moved here half a century ago, but then a different sort of people than Quakers started to move in, until now the borough is decidedly wet.

Before Prohibition, there was teetoalism (which got mixed up with tea-drinking). and that didn't work well either.  And before that was alcohol abstinence, and that was unsuccessful too.  What with alcoholic beverages flooding our grocery stores, I don't think there's a ghost of a chance that Dry January will have a significant impact on alcohol consumption in the United States.

One thing that puzzles me is why anti-smoking legislation has been so successful.  Which is more harmful to the human body and human society — booze or tobacco?

Apparently, Dry January goes back at least to 2008 (source).  This year it coincides with my personal New Year's resolution to cut out the daily dose of pastry, ice cream, and dollop of whipped cream to which I have been addicted for decades, and for which I now have proof positive of its ill effects on my health.  This is one resolution that I am going to keep in perpetuity.

 

Selected reading

• "Brew" (11/25/21)
• "Two brews" (1/6/10) — Mair and McGovern
• "Let the Beer-Divider Be Chief!" (8/5/09)