text_1: Stop-Smoking Drug May Also Curb Problem Drinking
text_2: Starting with the headline, any suggestion that this drug has been shown to “curb problem drinking” is not supported by this study. This story does not make clear to readers what information comes from the research that is the main subject and what comes from unrelated research or anecdotes. It doesn’t put the research into the effects of Chantix on people who drink into context with existing drug treatments given to some people with alcohol problems. The story does provide cost and side effect information. Overall, this is making news out of a small study of the short-term (only hours) effects of a drug on the way alcohol affects human physiology. One could question the newsworthiness of this story about such a small, short-term study. News stories should make clear what’s news and what’s background. This story confuses things by trying to transform research into how people feel when they mix Chantix and alcohol into an advance in knowledge about how to reduce alcohol consumption, which this research did not test. Many alcoholics smoke. A magic bullet that helps both addictions would indeed be big news. While Chantix is probably effective in improving quit-rates among smokers, it has not been shown to affect drinking. This small, short-term study in humans is only a first step in exploring how Chantix might affect drinkers.