Walter Miles and his research on low dose alcohol (1914–1924): Shifting the emphasis from intoxication to impairment.

Abstract

During his tenure (1914-1922) as a research scientist at Boston's Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory, Walter Miles (1885-1978) conducted important and methodologically sophisticated experiments on the psychological effects of low dose (2.75% by weight) alcohol. The research was important because it represented a shift in strategy away from examining the effects of large amounts of alcohol to determine the consequences of alcohol intoxication. Although the amount of alcohol ingested by his subjects was small, Miles was nonetheless able to demonstrate consistent deficits in several types of motor performance. Miles became an acknowledged national expert on the topic of alcohol and its behavioral consequences, and although he was unable to influence the debate that led to repealing National Prohibition in the early 1930s, his research had relevance for an issue that was emerging in the 1930s-the problem of the alcohol-impaired driver. Miles added a scientific and respected voice to the developing momentum for a societal response to the impaired driving question.