No saint takes strong drink as a remedy (7)
I believe the answer is:
nostrum
'a remedy' is the definition.
(I know that nostrum is a type of remedy)
'no saint takes strong drink' is the wordplay.
'saint' becomes 'st' (abbreviation).
'takes' says to put letters next to each other.
'strong drink' becomes 'rum' (rum is a kind of strong drink).
'no'+'st'+'rum'='NOSTRUM'
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for nostrum that I've seen before include "Quack cure" , "Simple, remedy" , "secret potion" , "our Latin" , "Supposed remedy" .)