Back in the days of my foolish youth, I was a cigarette smoker. I quit a number of times but would ultimately weaken, buy a pack and light up. Nonetheless I persevered and eventually beat the habit. I don’t remember what finally brought success but I do remember when the U.S. Surgeon General issued his famous warning about the evils of the practice, I took it seriously.

Now the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has weighed in on another of my habits, and he doesn’t approve of it either. He has issued an advisory calling for alcoholic drinks to carry a label that warns consumers about cancer risks. Booze doesn’t just kill when you drink and drive.

According to Murthy, drinking increases the risk of breast, colon, liver and other cancers. He has some convincing stats about alcohol consumption to back him up:

• It is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity.

• It causes 20,000 cancer deaths a year, more than the 13,500 deaths associated with drunk driving.

The type of alcohol (beer, wine or spirits) doesn’t matter. And there is no safe amount—even a small quantity can damage your health.

The organization that advises the Canadian government on alcohol consumption, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, generally agrees, as does the World Health Organization. The Centre now defines a low health risk associated with alcohol consumption as two or fewer standard drinks a week. It states that three to six drinks a week carry a moderate risk and seven drinks or more also increases the risk of heart disease or stroke “significantly.” The once popular idea that alcohol has some benefits with regard to cardiovascular diseases is being discredited.

As it turns out I have recently reduced my drinking to the level the Centre considers low—two or fewer drinks a week. This wasn’t a result of any virtue on my part. In fact, it’s a result of another nasty habit of booze—it causes gout. At least beer does, in fact it’s the most significant cause apparently, and beer was my tipple. In my dotage I’ve become susceptible to gout, so now my boozing habit is a very occasional beer or glass of wine on special occasions.

As for the Surgeon General’s warning labels, will they do any good? Erin Hobin, senior scientist at Public Health Ontario, thinks so. He’s been studying the effects of cancer warnings on alcohol containers for years and says research has shown they are proven to help reduce consumption.

The Surgeon General led a highly successful anti-smoking campaign in the U.S. Adult per capita consumption of cigarettes has declined by about 70 percent since the year before he issued his famous report.

Drinking is much more deeply embedded in the culture and will be a bigger challenge. And the alcohol lobby will put up formidable resistance. But the Surgeon General brings a big stick to what should prove to be a very interesting fight.