Enthusiasm for brief interventions has been in some ways misplaced, especially in the alcohol field. It is not denied that they are of great potential importance in the overall response to problems of addiction, but there needs to be a greater awareness of the particular implications for practice of the accumulated evidence on brief interventions and a reappraisal of the major goals underlying their use. Brief interventions should not be justified only in terms of early intervention. Rather, the eventual goal of brief interventions of reducing drinking by large numbers of the population combined with a change in the public awareness of alcohol consumption is more fundamental than is implied by an appeal to early intervention. This paper also shows that there is insufficient evidence to justify the abandonment of conventional outpatient treatment for clinic attenders and that the relative contribution of motivational and behavior change components of brief interventions should be assessed in research. 2 figures, 1 table and 77 references. (Author abstract modified)