So-called low-risk drinking isn't

It looks like the benefits of moderate drinking are hyped:

Focusing their findings on Canadian statistics, researchers found that while more than 800 premature deaths were prevented each year due to the benefits of moderate drinking, that same type of consumption caused 2,800 premature deaths.

That means a net of 2,000 people die of so-called low-risk drinking annually in Canada, Stockwell said. Add to that 5,300 deaths a year due to high-risk drinking and it turns out more than 7,000 people die prematurely each year due to the ill-effects of alcohol use.

Those deaths include such things as motor vehicle accidents, alcohol-related cancers and liver disease.

Low-risk drinking is defined by researchers as no more than an average of two standard drinks for women, three for men.

I checked out the source, just to see if they were ideologically motivated group. Turns out they are very active in harm reduction activities.