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Statistics
Health
- Alcoholism
affects more people than diabetes, lung cancer, breast cancer,
or heart attacks, and is about as common as hypertension
(high blood pressure.) (1)
- Last
year, there were 196,277 emergency room visits as a result
of using alcohol with other drugs. (8)
- Every
year, about 12,000 people in the U.S. die from alcohol-related
cirrhosis of the liver. (2)
Prevalence
of Alcoholism
- Approximately
15% of all drinkers, or 1 in 7, will develop an alcohol
abuse or dependence ("alcoholism") problem. (2)
- Every
day, more than 700,000 people in the United States receive
alcoholism treatment. (2)
- More
than 40 percent of those who start drinking at age 15 or
younger develop alcohol dependence. (2)
- 24.5%
of those who start drinking at age 17 or younger develop
alcohol dependence. (2)
- 10%
of those who start drinking at age 21 or older develop alcohol
dependence. (2)
Economic
Costs
- The
economic cost of alcohol abuse is about $148 billion per
year, including medical costs, lost productivity, crime,
and losses resulting from premature death. (1)
- Only
45% of the economic costs of alcohol abuse are paid by alcohol
abusers themselves. 55% of the economic costs are paid by
the government, rate-payers for private health and life
insurance, and victims of crime and car crashes. (1)
Crime
- Alcohol
is a factor in nearly 40 percent of violent crimes. (5)
- Based
on victim perceptions, about 2.7 million violent crimes
occurred each year in which victims were certain that the
offender had been drinking. (5)
- About
60% of mentally ill prisoners and 51% of other inmates in
State prison were under the influence of alcohol or drugs
at the time of their current offense. (5)
Underage
Drinkers
- Eight
young people a day die in alcohol-related crashes. (1)
- Alcohol
kills more teenagers than all other drugs combined. It is
a factor in the three leading causes of death among 15-24
year olds: accidents, homicides, and suicides. (2)
- Over
33% of all deaths for people aged 15-20 result from motor
vehicle crashes. In 1996, almost two out of five of these
motor vehicle fatalities involved alcohol. (4)
- Students
with GPAs of D or F drink three times as much as those who
earn A's. (1)
- Youth
who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use other illicit
drugs and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young
people who never drink. (1)
Sources:
1
-- National Institute on Drug Abuse
2 -- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
3 -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control
4 -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
5 -- U.S. Dept. of Justice
6 -- Journal of Substance Abuse
7 — Monitoring the Future
8 — Drug Abuse Warning Network
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