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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Beer, a Cure for Gin Addiction?

Beer, a Cure for Gin Addiction?

Sen. Bill Cassidy said William Wilberforce, a late 18th century British politician, “pushed the sale of beer” to successfully combat “drunkenness related to gin” in England. But Wilberforce wasn’t born until after the so-called gin epidemic had ended in the early 1750s, and its conclusion wasn’t due to beer.