[Editorial] All in for alcohol awareness (Lancet)

With so much recent attention paid to the legalisation and use of recreational marijuana and in the deadly wake of synthetic psychoactive street compounds, alcohol, the archetypal drug, is often overlooked. In efforts to bring the deleterious effects and burden of alcohol abuse and addiction to the fore, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, has designated every April since 1987 Alcohol Awareness Month in the USA. This year`s theme is, `For the Health of It: Early Education on Alcoholism and Addiction`, promoting the prevention of early alcohol use, increasing the recognition of the impact of alcoholism, and reducing the stigma around treatment for alcoholism.