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AskHistorians does not agree with you. I find their sources quite credible.

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1w3e4v/how_dr...

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/health#wiki_drink...

Boiling water before drinking it does have a positive effect on safety. That's beyond dispute.

I'm not one of those who claim beer was drunk instead of water - I'm just pointing out that the more positive association of alcohol compare to other drugs does have some kind of possible historic and scientific basis.

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