Diana Wallace asked "is alcohol consumption good for anyone?"
 
Basically, yes.  At least in humans, alcohol can have a significant effect
on reducing the risk for heart disease, mostly by increasing the levels of
high-density lipoprotein, which is the "good" cholesterol in your blood.
And some types of alcoholic drinks have additional elements that enhance the
effect of alcohol, but pure, plain ethanol by itself is protective in small
amounts.
 
Of course, the amount is the problem.  There are people who cannot moderate
their alcohol consumption and many, many lives have been wasted or lost
because of alcholism.  There are other chemicals that are also helpful or
even essential in small amounts but are deadly in high doses.  Alcohol is
not intrinsically bad for animals, as is, say, cyanide.  Very small amounts
of alcohol should be no more harmful to animals than it should be to humans,
but no one should ever intentionally give a pet enough alcohol to make it
tipsy or drunk.  A few drops on the fingers shouldn't do any harm, but much
more than that is questionable.
 
--Jeff Johnston
[Posted in FML issue 1570]