Locals respond to Surgeon General advisory on alcohol

The U.S. Surgeon General is urging lawmakers to require a cancer warning on alcoholic beverages.

It may have been a sip back and relax atmosphere at Friday’s Seafood and Music Festival,
but in downtown Fort Myers, not too many spirits were concerned.

• RELATED: Surgeon General calls for cancer warnings on alcohol

Many think a cancer warning label won’t stop anyone who is planning on having a drink from having one. But at the same time, hearing alcohol could increase their cancer risk did get them thinking about drinking.

Every time you crack open an alcoholic drink, you’re not always reading the fine print.

Bruce Benifiel was a festival attendee. He said that drinking alcohol has adverse side effects.

“Government warning women should not drink it during pregnancy. Birth defects impair the ability to drive,” said Benifiel.

Patti Ball was another attendee of the Seafood and Music Festival. She said that she’s afraid of the adverse effects of alcohol.

“Terrifies me because I love wine,” said Ball.

Beers, liquors and spirits are directly linked to an increased risk of cancer, according to an advisory the U.S. Surgeon General released Friday.

In the U.S., alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer, trailing only behind tobacco and obesity.

“The reality is that more people die every year of preventable alcohol-related cancers than drunken driving,” said De. Dale Shepard, Oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

That reality was news to Patti Ball.

“I absolutely didn’t realize it, and I need to tell you that I already had breast cancer,” said Ball. “So maybe, had I known that years ago, maybe I would have chosen not to smoke cigarettes, not to have wine.”

And Ball is not alone. The advisory states over half of Americans do not recognize alcohol consumption as a risk factor for cancer.

Adding a warning label takes approval from Congress so there won’t be a change yet, but the advisory is a starting point.