Alcohol is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in France, although its consumption has been declining for 40 years. With 13 million regular consumers, France was the sixth-largest alcohol-consuming country in 2003, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with wine accounting for the majority of consumption (60%). In addition to the dependence it can cause, alcohol can lead to acute health issues (behavioral disorders resulting in risk-taking and accidents) or chronic conditions (cirrhosis, neurological damage, cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract). The impact of alcohol consumption on mortality is difficult to measure because it can affect mortality directly or indirectly as an aggravating factor in many diseases. Thus, Inserm, based on three categories of deaths directly attributable to alcohol (cirrhosis, cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, and alcohol-induced psychosis), recorded 22,200 deaths in 2002, whereas when considering all deaths in which alcohol could be involved as an “associated cause,” 45,000 deaths were recorded in 1995. Updating these mortality data appears necessary, given that combating excessive alcohol consumption is a goal of current public health policies. Any measures considered must also take into account the positive perceptions associated with alcohol in France, where it is still often viewed more as a consumer product than as a psychoactive substance. (R.A.)