The failure of the Sobell study

In the early 1970s, there was a study done by Sobell and Sobell that indicated that alcoholics could control their drinking. Of the 70 subjects they studied, they attempted to teach 20 of them how to control their drinking.  The study concluded that these 20 alcoholics successfully learned how to drink like gentlemen again.

Some other researchers followed up on those same 20 alcoholics who supposedly learned controlled drinking, publishing a paper about a decade after the Sobell and Sobell paper. They found that:

• 1 was able to still moderate their drinking.
• 8 were engaging in out of control drinking.
• 6 realized they had to stop drinking altogether.
• 4 died because of their drinking.
• 1 was kicked out of the original controlled drinking study because they could not control their drinking

The point being: The alcoholics actually could not control their drinking, even though the Sobells's research paper indicated that they could.

Note that most accounts from the anti-stepper crowd about this criticism of the Sobell/Sobell study concentrate on the accusations of fraud; these accusations are a distraction. What matters is what happened to the people who tried controlled drinking: They didn't succeed. 

See also: Return to Moderate Drinking is Still a Lie.