ALCOHOL

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drug Use in the Food and Beverage Industry Under Scrutiny

In a nation where our drug problem grows by the year, we’re starting to see drug use and alcohol misuse crop up in businesses. Entire industries have been affected. We hear about office accidents, workplace injuries, falls, and so on, often caused by...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drinking and Marijuana Use Results in Increased Tobacco Consumption in Some Individuals

A healthy lifestyle is always preferred over an unhealthy one. As we go through life, we try to be as healthy as we can. Those intentions are, of course, strongly affected by a wide variety of factors. These include socioeconomic condition, genetic endowment,...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Does Alcohol Marketing Affect Alcohol Use in Young Adults?

Advertising is a growing industry and has been for some time. We see ads pop up everywhere. TV and radio stations have advertised the products and services of sponsors for decades now. Billboards, vinyl wraps on public transportation, newspapers, signs...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Deaths from Drugs, Alcohol, and Suicide at All-Time Highs

Dying is just a part of the life cycle. But the circumstances under which people die can be significant, especially when avoidable. Death rates from drugs, alcohol, and suicide are at all-time highs. These death rates are higher than they ever have been...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The Connection between Binge Drinking and Opioid Use

In a concerning research paper published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was found that more than half of the 4.2 million people in the United States who misused prescription opioids between 2012 and 2014 also struggled with binge...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

A Planet Drowning in Alcohol

We might not think of alcohol when we think of the world’s most addictive or harmful drug, but alcohol is up there, completely dwarfing narcotic drugs and mind-altering substances. Alcohol is a drug, in every sense of the word, and just because it is...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Alcohol Misuse in Rural Communities—Why Drinking Ends Up Being a “Way of Life” in the Country

According to the Treatment Episode Data Set Report (a research project done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), about 50 percent of treatment center admissions in rural America are for alcohol.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Decriminalization, Legalization, or Diversion—What’s the Right Solution?

As our great nation continues to struggle with a sweeping drug problem, the American people have attempted to create new ways and means of addressing that problem. Not all such approaches have been successful or sensible.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Unhappy Americans & An “Epidemic of Addiction”

A March 21st edition in the Washington Post caught my eye for its leading article by Allyson Chiu. The article was titled, “Americans Are The Unhappiest They’ve Ever Been, U.N. Report Finds.” An interesting topic certainly, but what really caught...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

French Health Officials Warn Its Citizenry of Alcohol Consumption

In the U.S., we love our alcohol. That just goes without saying. Alcohol consumption has become a regular part of our lives and such a frequent and normal occurrence that we don’t even think twice about.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Taking a New Look at Alcohol Consumption

We know that there are unintended consequences of alcohol consumption. We know that drinking alcohol can lead to poor choices, drunk driving, fights, public drunkenness, legal issues, unhealthy sexual decisions, bad hangovers, failed drug tests, career...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Work, Community, Family, and How Social and Economic Disparities Affect Addiction

“Addiction does not discriminate.” How many times have we heard that line? But what if I said to you that addiction does discriminate? What if I told you that discrimination in addiction is part of the fundamental reasons why we have such a cataclysmic...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Is Criminalizing Drug Use During Pregnancy the Answer?

I was surfing through U.S. News the other day when I came across a news story that really caught my eye. U.S. News posted an article titled, “Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Pregnant Women Abusing Drugs is Not Child Abuse.”Having worked in addiction...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drunk Driving and Drugged Driving—Big Problems on Our Roads

Drug and alcohol abuse can rob us of our family members and loved ones, our friends, our coworkers, and even our own lives in many different ways. Substance abuse with drugs and alcohol greatly impairs our abilities, reducing our cognitive function, our...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Will “Normalizing” Alcohol Use Among Women Create More Problem Drinkers?

It’s not hard to see plenty of signs that alcohol consumption —even excessive consumption—among women is being normalized. Taken one at a time, these signs may not be startling. But step back and look at the bigger picture and things look a little...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How New Orleans Libraries are Offering Courses on Drug Abuse Prevention

Here’s a news story that we can all get behind, a news story that focuses on good things and good news, instead of bad. And not only is this a news story, but this is a story that we can learn from.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Heavy Drinking is Killing More Americans… Especially More Young Adults

A 2018 study revealed that heavy alcohol consumption resulting in liver damage is killing an increasing number of Americans. Deaths among young adults are growing the fastest.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Let’s Not Trust the Alcohol Industry to Tell Us Alcohol is Healthy!

While the American public was busy with other matters, the alcoholic beverage industry and certain scientists conspired to prove that alcohol consumption improves health, ignoring existing science showing a definite connection between alcohol and cancer,...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Study Finds Most Alcohol Drug Abuse Starts In Teen Years

When we think about our future generation, about the last thing we would want to contemplate is losing our teens to addiction. But now, a French university study finds most alcohol, drug abuse starts in teen years.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The True Cost of that Drink in Your Hand

Imagine you go to a popular bar with friends on a Saturday night. That night, thousands of drinks will be served, some to people drinking excessively. You might not realize that every American is paying several hundred dollars a year for that excessive...