Does alcohol contribute to heart disease?

Recently when I was going through old editions of the british medical journal,I came upon an article on heart diseases in uk.

In it a very important risk factor was 'not consuming alcohol'...
Whether alcohol is good or bad is debatable medically. But in a social perspective,how do you rate it? Can this finding prove to be the most imposing reason for the youth to turn into alcoholics?

Dear crazydoc,
The trouble with alcohol is some can become addicted very easily. You can sometimes see a pattern in families. If you have relatives who are alcoholics you increase your risk of being an alcoholic by 25% if you have a parent who is an alcoholic you can increase your odds up to 50%. Part is genetics and part is environmental. Do they say one drink a day is benificial...yes but only to those who are not predisposed to alcoholism. Who are they? Thats the catch. Of course excess alcohol does cause heart disease, liver disease and a host of other problems. So for some a drink a day is manageable and does not create an addiction. For some it is the beginning of a life that will quickly spiral downward from alcoholism. It is much like a pain killer...some an take the recommended amount until their problem is resolved and never again look at a pain killer. For others they are unable to stop and end up taking more than prescribed and even continuing on after the problem is resolved. So with all alcohol, drugs of any kind it is the chance you take...one that most of us would rather not try.
Sue...good luck