Oregon health officials echo US Surgeon General's warning about cancer risks associated with alcohol – KGW.com

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PORTLAND, Oregon — As many Americans embrace a post-holiday break from alcohol, there’s a new advisory to consider all year long. On Friday, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned of the link between alcohol and cancer; specifically, that alcohol is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer behind tobacco and obesity.
“The research has been building for years now,” Vivek told NBC News. “We’ve had more and more evidence that keeps accumulating year by year that’s giving us a strong connection, a causal link between alcohol and cancer.”
Murthy said there are well established links between alcohol and seven types of cancer including mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, breast, liver and colorectal disease. 
Current advisories on alcohol labels warn against drinking while pregnant, driving or operating machinery. Murthy wants warnings to also include cancer risks associated with drinking, though changing the labels would take an act of Congress. Health officials in Oregon said they would welcome the change.
“We know that having that advisory, having that label on that bottle would make a big difference in raising awareness,” said Dr. Tom Jeanne, deputy state health officer and epidemiologist at the Oregon Health Authority.
Jeanne said every year, more than 2,500 Oregonians die from alcohol-related causes. It’s one reason OHA launched Rethink the Drink.  The campaign doesn’t tell people not to drink, Jeanne said, but offers fact-based information to help people make the right decision for themselves.
“We want people to think about ways they can be helpful in their communities, support other people who may not want to drink or to drink less,” said Jeanne. “Every level of drinking—whether you’re drinking multiple drinks a day or just one or two every once in a while—drinking less will be healthier for you.”
Right now national guidelines recommend no more than two drinks a day for men, and one or fewer drinks a day for women. Still, the Surgeon General’s report notes that even one or two drinks a day increases the risk of cancer, not just heavy drinking.
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