False memories and rum

ABC Science Online reported yesterday that a Canadian researcher had found he could discourage people from drinking rum by creating "false memories" about earlier episodes involving rum. Some 142 subjects between the ages of 18 and 20 were told that background research had turned up profiles of them that included an unfortunate encounter with rum, and , lo, subjects later evinced a preference for spirits other than rum.

The study was headed up by a professor in British Columbia. "What we find is that if you've increased your confidence that you've got sick drinking rum, you now give rum less preference," he reported.

Um.... OK. I suppose there are serious research reason to look into the powers of this sort of brainwashing. But my question is, how do you control for students who haven't actually had a real-life bad experience with rum?

It was a source of some wonder to me when researching "And a Bottle of Rum" how many folks shared an experience involving the same elements: a high school dance, Bacardi, and shrubberies. This was followed by a solemnly followed vow not to touch rum again.

Some insist that rum makes them sick because it's sweet. That's not the reason. (It's a durable myth that rum is always sweet.) It makes them sick because it's usually the cheapest hard liquor available, and kids first exploring the world of hard liquor tend to buy the cheapest liquor in the biggest bottle. They don't need brainwashing experiments to steer them away.

Question is, can those Bacardi and Coke guys implant false memories of great times with rum?