April is Alcohol Awareness Month and during the month we will look at the personal costs of alcohol use and abuse. Let's begin with statistics and then advance to all the many complications of alcohol abuse.
Alcohol abuse is an insidious societal problem.
*excessive alcohol use is a leading preventable cause of death in the US.
*alcohol is the most common substance of abuse in people over 12 years of age
*approximately 178,000 deaths each year are attributed to alcohol
*alcohol is easily accessible, even during Covid it was considered an "essential business". It just doesn't make to me.
*58 diseases are related to alcohol use
*90% of people who drink report occasional binge drinking
*ANNUAL MONEY spent on alcohol-$9.55 billion
One last staggering statistic, in 2010 alcohol misuse cost the US $249 billion. Can you imagine what it is now?
*CDC reported, NIH fact sheets