Dry January: Abstinence Campaigns Usually Don't Work

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Could alcohol abstinence campaigns like Dry January may do more harm than good? 

The Dry January campaign estimates that last year over 2 million people cut down their drinking for January, but popular doesn't necessarily mean effective, and the claims lack rigorous evaluation. Like 'don't buy gas on Tuesday', it isn't really changing anything if people engage in the same behavior a little later.

In The BMJ, Ian Hamilton, a lecturer at York University, argues that there is lack of evidence that such campaigns work and don't have unintended consequences. Firstly, it is not clear who Dry January is targeting. Trying to communicate a message about alcohol to the over 65s at the same time as the under 25s "risks the message not being heard, as the way these groups use alcohol is likely to be different.

Many of us can be economical with the truth when it comes to how much...

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