Promoting Positive Drinking: Alcohol, Necessary Evil Or Positive Good?

1 CE Hour
91 members have taken this course
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About the Course

Note: M. Stanton Peele has been a voice in the field of alcohol and drug problems for many decades. His viewpoints are thought provoking and sometimes controversial. It is not required that all professionals agree with his perspectives. At a minimum, however, the thoughtful professional must consider and address the challenging concepts Peele sets forth in his writings.

Note: We offer a number of courses based on Peele's writings. If interested, simply enter M. Stanton Peele into the Search bar.

Historically and internationally, cultural visions of alcohol and its effects vary in terms of how positive or negative they are and the likely consequences that they attach to alcohol consumption. The dominant contemporary vision of alcohol in the United States is that alcohol (a) is primarily negative and has exclusively hazardous consequences, (b) leads frequently to uncontrollable behavior, and (c) is something that young people should be warned against. This publication explores alternative models of drinking and channels for conveying them which emphasize healthy versus unhealthy consumption patterns as well as the individual's responsibility to manage his or her drinking.

This course is based on the reading online article, Promoting Positive Drinking: Alcohol, Necessary Evil Or Positive Good? created by Stanton Peele

Publication Details

Publication Date: 1999

Course Material Author

Stanton Peele

Stanton Peele has been investigating, thinking, and writing about addiction since 1969. His first bombshell book, Love and Addiction, appeared in 1975. Its experiential and environmental approach to addiction revolutionized thinking on the subject by indicating that addiction is not limited to narcotics, or to drugs at all, and that addiction is a pattern of behavior and experience which is best understood by examining an individual's relationship with his/her world. This is a distinctly nonmedical approach. It views addiction as a general pattern of behavior that nearly everyone experiences in varying degrees at one time or another.

Stanton Peele authored the material only, and was not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Target Audience

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially addiction counselors, psychologists, mental health counselors, social workers, and nurses who seek knowledge about societal drinking models. It is appropriate for all levels of participants' knowledge.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Identify societal drinking messages and their consequences.
  2. 2 Describe the modern public-health view of alcohol and alternative viewpoints.
  3. 3 Discuss prevalent models of alcohol's effects and the historical visions of alcohol.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

Any relevant financial disclosures for course material authors can be found in the article.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

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NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC)

1 CE credit hour
Eligible until Sep 29th, 2026
This course has been approved by CE Learning Systems, service provider of Impact CE, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #192243, CE Learning Systems is responsible for all aspects of their programming.
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NAADAC Approved Education Provider

Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling (FL CSW, MFT, MHC)

1 CE credit hour
Eligible until Mar 27th, 2027
Impact CE, a service of CE Learning Systems, is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling (Provider # 50-315).
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Florida Certification Board (FCB)

1 CE credit hour
Eligible until Dec 30th, 2027
Impact CE, a service of CE learning Systems, is approved by the Florida Certification Board (FCB) to offer continuing education programs (Provider # 5069A).
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Florida Board of Psychology

1 CE credit hour
Eligible until Mar 31st, 2031
Impact CE, a service of CE Learning Systems, is approved by the Florida Board of Psychology (Provider # 50-315).
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Missouri Credentialing Board (MCB)

1 CE credit hour
Eligible until Dec 30th, 2026
AddictionCounselorCE is an approved provider of the Missouri Substance Abuse Professional Credentialing Board (Provider #101). AddictionCounselorCE maintains responsibility for this course and its contents.
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Virginia Certification Board (VCB)

1 CE credit hour
Eligible until Jul 31st, 2026
Virginia Certification Board educational provider # 106
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