Alcohol Facts If you never take that first drink, you will never be an alcoholic. No one ever said, "I want to be an alcoholic one day," yet so many people are. Alcoholism is a chronic, often progressive disease that can be fatal. The condition involves a preoccupation with alcohol and impaired control over alcohol intake. You may continue to abuse alcohol despite serious adverse health, personal, work-related and financial consequences. Alcoholism usually involves physical dependence on the drug--alcohol, but genetic, psychological, and social factors contribute to this addiction. It's possible to have a problem with alcohol but not display all the characteristics of alcoholism. This is known as "alcohol abuse," which means you engage in excessive drinking that results in health or social problems, but you aren't dependent on alcohol and haven't fully lost control over the use of alcohol. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, about 18 million Americans abuse alcohol. Each year, more than 100,000 Americans die of alcohol-related causes. Alcohol is a factor in nearly half of all traffic deaths. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse cause major social, economic, and public health problems in the United States. The annual cost of lost productivity and health expenses related to alcoholism may be as high as $185 billion. An alcohol rehabilitation center is dedicated to helping alcoholics give up the bottle so they can lead fuller lives. Statistics Alcoholism statistic in the United States remain staggering. There are approximately 14 millions people in the country addicted to alcohol and millions more display symptoms of abuse, including binge drinking. Sadly, a reported 2.6 million binge drinkers in 2002 were between the ages of 12 & 17. Due to the more than 2 million people per year who drive under the influence, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that alcoholism statistics indicate 17,000 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in each of the last three years. Since perceptions and behaviors become distorted under the influence of drugs and alcohol in any situation, annual alcoholism statistics also show that, in addition to traffic accidents, alcohol abuse causes: • 1,400 deaths • 500,000 injuries • 600,000 assaults • 70,000 sexual assaults (Source: National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse) "Alcohol is the number one drug of choice among our nation's youth. Yet the seriousness of this issue does not register with the general public or policymakers." --Enoch Gordis, M.D., Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Underage alcohol abuse has led to these sad facts: • Alcohol is the fourth leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24. • Underage drinking costs Americans nearly $58 billion annually. • In the United States, on average, kids begin to drink at the age of 12. • Alcoholism statistics show that, compared to those who start drinking at the legal age of 21, people who start using alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop an alcohol addiction at some point in their lives. Facts Society Approximately 14 million Americans — about 7.4 percent of the adult population — meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism. More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism. Research was conducted in 1998 to determine the total cost attributable to the consequences of underage drinking. The cost was more than $58 billion per year, based on year 2000 dollars. In 1992, the estimated productivity loss for employees with past or current alcoholism was $66.7 billion. Productivity losses were greatest for male employees who initiated drinking before age 15. In a survey of 18- to 24-year-old current drinkers who failed to complete high school, nearly 60 percent had taken their first drink of alcohol before age 16. In 1999, the average American drank 32 gallons of beer compared to 51 gallons of soft drinks, 24 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of coffee. Men who consume more than two alcoholic drinks per day are at increased risk for cancer, cerebrovascular disease, accidents, and violence. Long-term, heavy alcohol use is the leading cause of illness and death from liver disease in the U.S. Alcohol is implicated in more than 100,000 deaths annually. In 1996, about 2 million (38%) of the estimated 5.3 million convicted offenders under the jurisdiction of corrections’ agencies were drinking at the time of the offense. Doctors are conducting studies to find out the extent alcohol contributes to getting &/or worsening cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, heart disease/failure, stroke, ulcers, high blood pressure, and other diseases. The Family Approximately one in four children are exposed to family alcoholism, addiction, or alcohol abuse some time before the age of 18. Current research suggests children are less likely to drink when their parents spend time and interact in a positive way with them, and when they and their parents report feeling close to each other. Adolescents drink less and have fewer alcohol-related problems when their parents discipline them consistently and set clear expectations. Children of alcoholics are significantly more likely to engage in underage alcohol use and to develop addiction and other alcohol-use disorders. Parents' drinking behaviors and attitudes of acceptance about drinking have been associated with adolescents' initiating and continuing drinking. Any drinking during pregnancy, even "social drinking," can put offspring at risk for learning and behavioral problems during adolescence. Many are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The Child Sixty-seven percent of eighth graders and 83 percent of tenth graders believe that alcohol is readily available to them for consumption. 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. Forty-one percent of ninth-grade students reported drinking in the past month, while only 24 percent reported smoking in the past month. One-fifth of eighth graders and 42 percent of tenth graders have been drunk at least once. Almost one-fourth of ninth graders reported binge drinking (having had five or more drinks on one occasion) in the past month. Rates of drinking differ among racial and ethnic minority groups. Among students in grades 9 through 12, binge drinking was reported by 34 percent non-Hispanic white students, 11 percent of African American students, and 30 percent of Hispanic students. The gap between alcohol use by boys and girls has closed. Among ninth graders, girls consume alcohol and binge drink at rates almost equal to boys. 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. If drinking is delayed until age 21, a child's risk of serious alcohol problems is decreased by 70 percent. The School Evidence suggests that alcohol use by peers is a strong predictor of adolescent use of alcohol. 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. According to this same 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. Among eighth graders, students with higher grade point averages reported less alcohol use in the past month. Research indicates that adolescents who use alcohol may remember 10 percent less of what they have learned than those who don’t drink. Among eighth graders, higher truancy rates were associated with greater rates of alcohol use in the past month. One national study found that students are less likely to use alcohol if they are socially accepted by people at school and feel that teachers treat students fairly. In a survey of seventh- through twelfth-grade teachers, 76 percent felt that underage student drinking was a serious or somewhat serious problem. The Community An overwhelming number of Americans (96%) are concerned about underage drinking, and a majority support measures that would help reduce teen drinking, such as stricter controls on alcohol sales, advertising, and promotion. Recent advertising expenditures in the United States for beer, wine, and liquor combined ($1.4 billion) totaled about 20 times the amount spent on milk ads ($70.5 million). A total of $910.4 million was spent on beer ads, $135.2 million on wine ads, and $377 million on liquor ads. A study of fifth- and sixth-grade students found that those who demonstrated an awareness of beer ads also held more favorable beliefs about drinking and intended to drink more frequently when they grew up. 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 a study conducted in 38 States and the District of Columbia, areas with greater numbers of drinking establishments had higher rates of alcoholism. 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. Among drivers aged 15-20, fatal crashes involving a single vehicle at night are three times more likely to be alcohol-related than other fatal crashes. You booze, you cruise, you lose. Excerpts from: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism READ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ALCOHOLISM.

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