title: Benjamin Rush's educational campaign against hard drinking.
abstract: More than 200 years ago, during a period of unprecedented production and consumption of distilled alcoholic beverages in the United States, Benjamin Rush launched a health education campaign that warned the public about the hazards of such beverages. He corrected erroneous notions about their presumed beneficial effects and accurately described more than a dozen alcohol-related health problems. Although the temperance movement has had a tumultuous history in the United States, the origin and long-standing tradition of temperance as a health promotion activity needs to be recognized.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Research Group, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Katcher
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000266:history; D006266:Health Education / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D013695:Temperance / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States