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[JDPriestly]

115. Sorry. That is not entirely true.

Mexico leads the world in deaths from liver disease. We are second -- partly because of our horrible health care system.

But third is Germany. Not that far from us.

After a big drop in the number of deaths due to liver disease, Brazil follows as number four.

The big surprise for me is that France is 101st. They drink wine with meals a lot.

Of course, alcohol is only one factor in liver disease. The Germans and we Americans eat a lot of animal fats too.

Here are the statistics.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_alc_liv_dis-mortality-alcoholic-liver-disease

But, are deaths due to liver disease the measure?

The French government has been urged in a report to "snap out of its state of national denial" and take urgent steps to "denormalise drinking".

Hervé Chabalier, a leading journalist and former alcoholic who wrote the report, said: "In this country we have always, culturally, looked at alcohol through a magnifying glass: we just see the good side, never the fact that ... drink is the third greatest cause of avoidable deaths in France."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/nov/25/france.jonhenley

That article is dated 2005.

One advantage of having no drinking age limit at all is that young teenagers begin to drink with their parents. It isn't just something they do with their equally immature buddies.

Still, personally, I would prefer we didn't have any alcoholic drinks at all. But that's just my personal preference. And I don't think I should impose it on others.