Alcohol is not as dangerous as illegal drugs

This is another myth — the idea that alcohol is not as dangerous as heroin or cocaine or other illegal drugs. Alcohol, directly and indirectly, causes more premature deaths than all the illicit drugs combined. About a third of all emergency room visits are alcohol related.

This idea that alcohol is the good drug and the illegal drugs are the bad drugs is a pervasive, old idea. Alcohol, consumed in moderation, is not a problem, but alcoholism and alcohol abuse costs our society billions of dollars each year. Industry loses billions on alcohol abuse and alcoholism due to work injuries, missed days, soaring healthcare costs, rework, low productivity, and other more subtle causes that most people wouldn’t associate with alcohol.

I once met an executive who worked at a major auto-maker in overseas operations. He was in recovery from alcoholism when I met him. This executive told me stories of business dinners in South America and how he would make million dollar decisions under the influence, and how the money was often wasted on bad decisions caused by impaired judgement.

There are myriad families suffering because the breadwinner is an alcoholic and mismanages the family finances. There are young people who never reach their potential because their alcoholism advances quickly. Alcoholism is often unrecognized, so family, friends and employers assign some other cause to the strange and destructive behavior. Below are statistics and facts from NIH related to alcoholism or alcohol abuse:

Alcohol Use in the United States:

• Prevalence of Drinking: In 2013, 86.8 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 70.7 percent reported that they drank in the past year; 56.4 percent reported that they drank in the past month.¹
• Prevalence of Binge Drinking and Heavy Drinking: In 2013, 24.6 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month; 6.8 percent reported that they engaged in heavy drinking in the past month.²

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) in the United States:

• Adults (ages 18+): 16.6 million adults ages 18 and older³ (7.0 percent of this age group⁴) had an AUD in 2013. This includes 10.8 million men³ (9.4 percent of men in this age group⁴) and 5.8 million women³ (4.7 percent of women in this age group⁴).
  • About 1.3 million adults received treatment for an AUD at a specialized facility in 2013 (7.8 percent of adults who needed treatment). This included 904,000 million men (8.0 percent of men in need) and 444,000 women (7.3 percent of women who needed treatment).⁵
• Youth (ages 12–17): In 2013 an estimated 697,000 adolescents ages 12–17⁶ (2.8 percent of this age group⁷) had an AUD. This number includes 385,000 females⁶ (3.2 percent of females in this age group⁷) and 311,000 males⁶ (2.5 percent of males in this age group⁷).
  • An estimated 73,000 adolescents (44,000 males and 29,000 females) received treatment for an alcohol problem in a specialized facility in 2013.⁸

Alcohol-Related Deaths:

• Nearly 88,000⁹ people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women¹⁰) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.⁹
• In 2013, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 10,076 deaths (30.8 percent of overall driving fatalities).¹¹

Economic Burden:

• In 2006, alcohol misuse problems cost the United States $223.5 billion.¹²
• Almost three-quarters of the total cost of alcohol misuse is related to binge drinking.¹²

Global Burden:

• In 2012, 3.3 million deaths, or 5.9 percent of all global deaths (7.6 percent for men and 4.0 percent for women), were attributable to alcohol consumption.¹³
• Alcohol contributes to over 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions, most notably alcohol dependence, liver cirrhosis, cancers, and injuries.¹⁴ In 2012, 5.1 percent of the burden of disease and injury worldwide (139 million disability-adjusted life years) was attributable to alcohol consumption.¹³
• Globally, alcohol misuse is the fifth leading risk factor for premature death and disability; among people between the ages of 15 and 49, it is the first.¹⁵

Family Consequences:

• More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems, according to a 2012 study.¹⁶

Underage Drinking:

• Prevalence of Underage Alcohol Use:
  • Prevalence of Drinking: According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 35.1 percent of 15-year-olds report that they have had at least 1 drink in their lives.¹⁷ About 8.7 million people ages 12–20 (22.7 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month (23 percent of males and 22.5 percent of females).¹⁸
  • Prevalence of Binge Drinking: According to the 2013 NSDUH, approximately 5.4 million people (about 14.2 percent) ages 12–20 were binge drinkers (15.8 percent of males and 12.4 percent of females).¹⁸
  • Prevalence of Heavy Drinking: According to the 2013 NSDUH, approximately 1.4 million people (about 3.7 percent) ages 12–20 were heavy drinkers (4.6 percent of males and 2.7 percent of females).¹⁸
• Consequences of Underage Alcohol Use:
  • Research indicates that alcohol use during the teenage years could interfere with normal adolescent brain development and increase the risk of developing an AUD. In addition, underage drinking contributes to a range of acute consequences, including injuries, sexual assaults, and even deaths—including those from car crashes.¹⁹

Alcohol and College Students:

• Prevalence of Alcohol Use:

  • Prevalence of Drinking: In 2013, 59.4 percent of full-time college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month compared with 50.6 percent of other persons of the same age.²⁰
  • Prevalence of Binge Drinking: In 2013, 39 percent of college students ages 18–22 engaged in binge drinking (5 or more drinks on an occasion) in the past month compared with 33.4 percent of other persons of the same age.²¹
  • Prevalence of Heavy Drinking: In 2013, 12.7 percent of college students ages 18–22 engaged in heavy drinking (5 or more drinks on an occasion on 5 or more occasions per month) in the past month compared with 9.3 percent of other persons of the same age.²²

• Consequences—Researchers estimate that each year:

  • 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor-vehicle crashes.²³

  • 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.²⁴

  • 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.²⁴

  • Roughly 20 percent of college students meet the criteria for an AUD.²⁵

  • About 1 in 4 college students report academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind in class, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall.²⁶