alt Hacker NewsI read the article and it's a bit tricky to tease out but the negative association with spirits does exist. To summarize:
1. The quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion is most strongly associated with harms.
and
2. "The more alcohol was drunk per occasion, the higher the proportion of it which was drunk in the form of spirits"
The choice of beverage and how much was drunk was more dependent on cultural, social, and other factors.
My intuition tells me it's physically more difficult to consume more alcohol from a lower-strength beverage.
My intuition tells me most people can't put down whiskey like they can beer. My guess is both of these are actual relevant things that affect behaviors, but I have no idea which is stronger.