I know some older people who justify drinking wine because of the stories of how it is good for heart health.

Here are a selection of headlines from one (low quality) daily UK newspaper.

It wouldn't surprise me if, in the face of this flood of low quality reporting, people got the wrong messages about alcohol.

"Why is red wine good for you?" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-200858/Factfile-red-...

"So how good is wine for your health?" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-107073/So-good-win... first paragraph of article "Wine drinkers have never had it so good. Not only does a glass or two, or even three, taste rather good, it's remarkably healthy, too, protecting against a whole range of diseases."

Cardiologist precribes red wine http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2661296/The-cardio...

Patients prescribed red wine http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-187164/Patients-pr...

Red wine is slimming http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2945133/How-glass-... -- first bold bullet point "Drinking red wine could improve conditions such as fatty liver disease"

Red wine not just good for your heart but may prevent deafness http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2282268/Red-wine-i...

Larry King drinks wine (1-2 glasses/day) because his doctor told him, it is good for him...

I do however know of several people who justify their drinking by claiming it's healthy