Statistics on Alcohol Abuse

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Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that results in situations that can result in ongoing alcohol-related relationship problems; physical injury; the failure to attend to important responsibilities at school, work, or at home; and/or the experience of recurring alcohol-related legal problems (such as multiple DUIs).

There are various issues regarding alcohol abuse that need to be scrutinized in order to better understand this destructive drinking pattern.  Paying special attention to the statistics on alcohol abuse that are available, it is maintained, is one of the more instructional ways to study alcohol abuse and its associated issues and possibly learn something that will help people drink more responsibly.

Why Statistics on Alcohol Abuse Are Important and Necessary

Unfortunately, the full extent of the dangerous and far reaching consequences of alcohol abuse are not usually understood until relevant statistics are explicitly articulated.  As a result, the following alcohol abuse statistics, obtained via different online research studies and surveys, will be outlined below:

• Between 48% and 64% of the people who die in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating intoxication.
  
  
• Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to report academic problems, substance use, and delinquent behavior in both middle school and high school.
  
  
• Excessive drinking contributes to illness in each of the top three causes of death: heart disease, cancer and strokes.
  
  
• 3 million Americans over the age of 60 are alcohol-dependent or alcohol abusers.
  
  
• Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.
  
  
• About 10 to 20% of the people who drink heavily eventually develop cirrhosis of the liver (i.e., a scarring of the liver).
  
  
• In the United States, more than 2 million people per year drive "under the influence.".
  
  
• One study of Midwestern States found that 46 percent of ninth graders who reported drinking alcohol in the previous month said they obtained the alcohol from a person aged 21 or older.
  
  
• In the United States, the correlation between the battering of women and alcohol abuse is the highest for men who believe that male control and power over women are acceptable in various situations.
  
  
• Forty percent of ninth-grade students reported having consumed alcohol before they were age 13. In contrast, only 26.2 percent of ninth graders reported having smoked cigarettes, and 11.6 percent reported having used marijuana before they were age 13.
  
  
• 25% of all emergency room admissions, 33% of all suicides, and more than 50% of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol-related.
  
  
• When alcoholism and drug abuse are treated as long term illnesses, chronic and relapsing, success rates are comparable to those realized with other chronic health problems.
  
  
• In one study, almost one-fourth of ninth graders reported binge drinking (having had five or more drinks on one occasion) in the past month.
  
  
• Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.
  
  
• Among drivers aged 15-20, fatal crashes involving a single vehicle at night are three times more likely than other fatal crashes to be alcohol-related.
  
  
• Does drinking strong coffee or taking a cold shower have an effect on the person who is drunk? The answer is yes - the result being an alert, cold, and wet drunk. Time, and only time can sober a person up.
  
  
• In 1995, there were 51,737 federal prisoners and 224,900 state prisoners who were incarcerated because of alcohol or drug abuse.
  
  
• One hundred thousand Americans die of alcohol problems each year.
  
  
• Sixty-seven percent of eighth graders and 83 percent of tenth graders believe that alcohol is readily available to them for consumption.
  
  
• According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, there are 105,000 annual alcohol-related deaths due to drunk drivers and related injuries or diseases.
  
  
• One of every 130 licensed drivers in the United States has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

• Work roles with little or no supervision and those characterized by high mobility are associated with increased rates of problem drinking.
  
  
• More than 40 percent of individuals who start drinking before the age of 13 will develop alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some point in their lives.
  
  
• According to a 1995 Weekly Reader survey, more than half (54%) of fourth through sixth graders reported learning about the dangers of illicit drugs at school, but fewer than a third (30%) learned about the dangers of drinking and smoking at school.
  
  
• More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.
  
  
• In general, unmarried workers (divorced, separated or never married) have about twice the rate of alcoholism or alcohol abuse as married workers.

• As many as 3 million Americans over the age of 60 are alcoholics or have serious drinking problems.
  
  
• Alcoholism statistics in the United States remain staggering. There are approximately 14 million people in the country addicted to alcohol and millions more who display symptoms of abuse, including binge drinking. Sadly, a reported 2.6 million binge drinkers in 2002 were between the ages of 12 and 17.
  
  
• Nearly one-fourth of all persons admitted to general hospitals have alcohol problems or are undiagnosed alcoholics being treated for the consequences of their drinking.
  
  
• Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year — enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer.
  
  
• Beer is the drink most commonly consumed by people stopped for alcohol-impaired driving or involved in alcohol-related crashes.
  
  
• Individuals with drinking problems or alcoholism at any time in their lives suffer income reductions ranging from 1.5 percent to 18.7 percent depending on age and sex compared with those with no such diagnosis.
  
  
• Individuals with alcoholism and drug abusers are at increased risk for HIV/AIDS, as well as other infectious diseases like hepatitis and tuberculosis.
  
  
• More than 40% of separated or divorced women were married to or lived with a problem drinker.
  
  
• Over 40 percent of corporate CEOs who responded to one survey estimated that the use of alcohol and other drugs costs them from 1-10 percent of their payroll.
  
  
• According to a 1995 national survey of fourth through sixth graders who read the Weekly Reader, 30 percent of students reported that they received "a lot" of pressure from their classmates to drink beer.
  
  
• Alcohol abuse costs businesses twice as much as illegal drug use.
  
  
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws have saved 21,887 lives since the mid-1970s.
  
  
• Alcohol impaired drivers get behind the wheel 123 million times a year in the United States.  

Statistics on Alcohol Abuse:  Conclusion

Ironically, despite the fact that basic alcohol information such as the negative effects of abusing alcohol has been known for centuries, alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction continue to devastate and decimate human lives in our "aware" and "enlightened" society. 

Indeed, to corroborate this assertion, one merely has to read some of the horrendous statistics on alcohol abuse outlined above.

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