Drinkers actually live longer btw. So they get no Atta boys.  I think the current consensus is that those reports were jumping the gun a bit. Making a pretty common mistake with meta analysis in not controlling for behavioral changes in response to illness. As I understand it that higher survival rate goes away when it's looked at over a larger timespan. The abstainers were getting pushed down due to their grouping with regular drinkers who stopped drinking once they were diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Low moderate and occasional drinkers along with people who don't drink at all end up at a pretty similar range once that's controlled for.