It is a real pleasure to attend this meeting for three reasons. Firstly, Dr Dorothy Black, in whose honour these events are held, has made an enormous contribution to our national responses to drugs and to HIV. It is good that these lectures serve as a tribute to her work, and as one that she herself is able to attend and enjoy. Secondly, the Research Centre on Drugs and Health Behaviour has established itself as a major international centre of excellence and innovation, even though research into alcohol and drug issues in the UK is in a precarious state. Thirdly, it is a real delight to be able to respond to an address by Professor Eric Single. Eric is both a highly respected colleague and a friend. It is not an exaggeration to acknowledge the contribution that Eric has made and continues to make in combining the highest level of scientific competence and integrity with the wish to foster a humane and decent response to problems associated with alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Alcohol is humanity’s favourite mind-altering drug. Those of us who consume it generally do so with enjoyment and without harm. Sadly, some people drink heavily or inappropriately, and such risky use is associated with a huge toll of adverse consequences. It is clear that the extent of such alcohol-related harm is a reflection of the more general use of alcohol in society. Alcohol problems are associated with the ways in which alcohol is consumed and in particular, with the pattern of risky drinking. As Eric Single has outlined (Single, 1996), the formulation of alcohol control policies has generally been vague, and with little sense of direction or of which methods might produce tangible results. Moreover, the constructive discussion of alcohol policy issues has frequently been blighted by the fact that these are highly politicized. Researchers in this particular arena often feel that they are under fire from all directions, and that both hard evidence and rationality are the first casualties of such skirmishes (Plant et al., 1996). In this situation a cogent and balanced presentation such as that delivered here this evening is to be greatly valued. I believe that in any society in which alcohol is widely used, legal, and an important feature of leisure time, harm reduction or harm minimization offers a realistic formula which may achieve two paramount objectives. The first of these is to reduce levels of alcohol-related problems such as accidents, injuries, premature deaths, illnesses, public disorder and a host of family, social, economic and other consequences. Secondly, harm reduction offers a way forward that is not unduly oppressive and which is not a threat to basic human rights. It is sometimes suggested that ‘researchers should not take sides’. In relation to issues such as the reduction of the harm associated with risky drinking, it would, I believe, be a poor researcher who did not consider three key issues.