But many of Dr Stockwell’s respected peers say it is far from settled science and have cast doubt on his research. They question his motives and accuse him of being a front for a worldwide temperance lobby that is secretly attempting to ban alcohol.
Dr Stockwell denies this. Speaking to The Telegraph, he in turn accused his detractors of being funded by the alcohol lobby and said his links to temperance societies were fleeting. He was the president of the Kettil Bruun Society (a think tank born out of what was the international temperance congresses) and he has been reimbursed for addressing temperance movements and admits attending their meetings, but, he says, not as a member.
... “I have attended a meeting funded by the Swedish Temperance Organisation and I’ve written material that they have published,” he said. “I’ve had connections with the International Order of Good Templars. I’ve attended some of their meetings, but I’m not a member.”
On a practical level, drinkers will almost certainly be unaware of the explosive row Dr Stockwell’s research has generated in academia. But there is a very high chance they will have read one of the many stories his work has generated, and potentially modified their behaviour, reluctantly popping the cork back into the wine bottle or leaving the beer unbought on the supermarket shelf.
Now experts warn that the anti-drinking lobby – a “neo-temperance movement” – has the US and UK’s drinking guidelines in its sights.
“Dr Stockwell has never conducted any primary research into this as far as I’m aware,” Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, told The Telegraph. “He just keeps creating systematic reviews with the aim of trying to obscure the J-curve and the benefits of drinking.
“You have what I think you can fairly describe as a neo-temperance movement operating quite effectively in Britain and around the world.
"A lot of these academics take the view that everybody needs to drink less. They’re very keen on being able to say there’s no safe level because then they could treat alcohol very similar to tobacco."
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