The writer is a contributing columnist, based in Chicago
“Happy alco-holidays”. The neon sign flashes in the window of one of the numerous seasonal pop-up bars that pack the streets around Chicago’s Wrigley Field stadium. The pop-ups are doing a roaring trade, as Chicagoans gear up to celebrate that alco-holiday in chief, New Year’s Eve.
They are ringing in what could be a momentous year in the great American alcohol debate: does booze do more to kill us or keep us alive? True believers from both sides are facing off over planned new guidelines on alcohol consumption: should Americans dramatically reduce their drinking? Or is a modest amount healthier than never drinking at all?