Alcohol Safety & Education
Most early civilizations had alcoholic drinks. Certainly as early as 4000 B.C. there were alcoholic drinks being produced in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. The Greeks and Phoenicians traded wine around the Mediterranean, while the Romans spread the art of growing and farming grape-bearing vines. Benedictine monks experimented with distilling wine around the time of the Crusades.

Today, spirits, wine and beer are consumed in almost every culture, but their use is carefully scrutinized because of potential dangers associated with their abuse. There has been a wealth of medical research on the effects of alcohol consumption - on the individual, family and society - and information on these studies is available through many public and private organizations. A number of these are listed below, with links to their respective websites:

• Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
• Canadian Health Network
• Educ'alcool (Montreal, Canada)
• Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving