The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

FYI: DRINKING IN AMERICA

Among current drinkers (defined as anyone who consumed 12 or more drinks of alcohol during the past year):

Men are twice (21%) as likely as women (10%) to be heavier drinkers (individuals who consume two or more drinks per day on average).


The prevalence of alcoholism is highest among people who have personal incomes of less than $10,000 (17%) and lowest among those whose incomes are $25,000 or more (6%).


The prevalence of alcoholism is more than twice as high (19%) among those who have suffered from depression at some time during their lives as those who have not (9%).


Anyone who admitted driving after drinking three times or more in the past year was either alcoholic (52%) or suffering from an alcohol-related problem (48%).


Beer was the most popular alcoholic beverage by far among men who expressed a preference; women preferred beer and wine in almost equal percentages.


61% who admitted they had driven after drinking at least three times during the past year said they preferred drinking beer.


Nearly half who started drinking before the age of 16 said they preferred drinking beer to wine or distilled spirits.


59% of those who ever had received treatment for an alcohol problem said they preferred drinking beer.


A family history of alcoholism in both first and second degree relatives is twice as common among American Indians and Alaska natives (48%) as among whites (23%); blacks (22%); Hispanics of Hispanic origin (25%); or non-Hispanics of Hispanic origin (23%).


43% of those who ever had received any treatment for alcoholism in their lives said they had a family history of alcoholism in both first and second degree relatives.

Source: Drinking in the United States: Main Findings from the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 11/98

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 phone: 212/269-7797   fax: 212/269-7510 email: national@ncadd.org   http://www.ncadd.org HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)