Psychiatric doctor and expert in alcoholism dies

Founding director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dr Morris Edward Chafetz, has died.

Chafetz was a doctor of psychiatry who emphasised the benefits of moderate drinking and believed that alcoholism was a treatable illness.

Writing about alcohol abuse in the Huffington Post in August 2009, Chafetz commented: “Despite what these latter-day prohibitionists may think, the problem is not the drink – it is the drinker.

“There should be more emphasis on the person and the surroundings in which alcohol is consumed and less emphasis on alcohol itself. Personal and social responsibility, not the substance, is the real issue.”

Chafetz founded the National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse in 1970 and was a member of the Presidential Commission on Drink Driving, as well as director and executive member of the National Commission against Drink Driving.

He was also the Presidential appointee at The White House Conference for a Drug-Free America and his career culminated in the foundation of The Health Education Foundation in Washington.

Chafetz described alcoholism as “America’s most treatable untreated illness” and stressed the health benefits of moderate drinking, in particular with food.

He was a prolific writer and his books included Why Drinking Can Be Good for You (1965) and Drink Moderately and Live Longer: Understanding the Good of Alcohol (1995).

He also wrote a number of titles on alcoholism and its treatment, including Alcoholism and Society (1962, written with Harold W. Demone) and The Alcoholic Patient: Diagnosis and Management (1983).

Chafetz joined UK organisation Alcohol in Moderation (AIM) as a council member in 1999.

Chafetz died on 14 October at his home in Washington, aged 87.

It is believed the cause of death was suicide – his wife of 60 years, Marion, had died the day before.