Leah Odze Epstein

A photo of a beer-drinking bride has sparked controversy in New Zealand. The 34-year-old woman initially found herself in the spotlight because she was a was a contestant in a Bride of the Year competition. When the photograph of her drinking from a bottle of beer while wearing her wedding...

In my universe, Thursday night is date night, which usually means having a glass of wine or two with my husband at a restaurant or bar. Often, the mere anticipation of the buzz has me sighing with pleasure throughout the day. So is it the wine that's making me feel...

Habit (from Merriam-Webster.com): "A behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance."

"Addiction."

I remember a time in my mid-twenties when I was newly married with no...

Last week, I spent two nights in a row sitting in bars -- one night at a new wine bar in my town and the next night at the intimate bar of a local restaurant -- and I was reminded why I love them. These were upscale, suburban bars, but...

Are pills the new alcohol?

Here's a quote from the March 26, 2012 New York Magazine cover story, "Listening to Xanax: How America Learned to Stop Worrying About Worrying and Pop its Pills Instead," by Lisa Miller:

So reliably relaxing are the effects of benzodiazepines that...

The other night I went to an addiction book panel at the NYU Bookstore moderated and hosted by Susan Shapiro, the co-author of "Unhooked: How to Quit Anything." She gathered some amazing panelists, like Maer Roshan, founder of the website The Fix, about all things addiction-related...

Which is safer, pot or alcohol? Which is "better"? If you had to pick, which would you prefer your teenagers to do -- smoke pot or drink alcohol? The debate has been heating up lately, now that the legalization of marijuana (in small amounts) is on the table in Colorado....

How many times have you said to yourself, "I'm never going to (fill in the blanks with your vice)," only to beat yourself up when you ended up (drinking, smoking, eating ice cream) twice as much as you did before? When it comes to lifestyle changes, an all-or-nothing mentality can...

Okay, I'll admit it: I watch the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," and I love it. I know it's de rigueur to call reality TV a "guilty pleasure" and feel ashamed for not reading back issues of the New Yorker instead, but it's actually gotten me...

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report stating that binge drinking is a bigger problem than they thought. According to their statistics, "More than 38 million US adults binge drink, about 4 times a month."

So what are we going to do about it?...