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Drug and Alcohol Addiction Statistics in the United States

Statistics On Addiction In America

glass of alcohol on table

Americans know that drug and alcohol addiction negatively impacts people’s wellbeing—so much so, that this awareness is taking center stage more frequently in our communities and government.. So what are the facts about the current state of substance abuse problems in this country?

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Statistics

Alcoholism is an extremely serious problem in our world today that leads to approximately 88,000 deaths each year in the United States alone.1 Alcohol-related deaths are the fourth-leading preventable cause of death in the United States.1 So understanding the dangers and warnings signs of addiction could make a big difference in reducing the risk of harm.2 It is also important that those addicted to alcohol and the ones who love them recognize the short- and long-term health effects associated with alcoholism.3

While drinking behavior may seem somewhat ubiquitous, the majority of alcohol consumption—and, consequently, the bulk of the associated harm—occurs in a relatively small portion of the population who drinks. An estimated 71% of Americans reported consuming alcohol in the past year,1 yet more than half of the alcohol in any given year is consumed by the top 10% of drinkers.4

Are you worried that you, or a loved one, might have a problem with alcohol? Has the idea of living a happy and healthy life started to feel unattainable?  If the answer to these questions is yes, call and speak to one of our admissions navigators so they can provide support and information to help you begin to address your addiction and find the addiction help you need.

Statistics on Alcoholism In The U.S.

People Seek Treatment for Alcohol More than Any Other Substance

Illustrations showing most treated substances Alcohol is the most abused drug among people in recovery, as Recovery Brands revealed with a 2017 survey. The survey found that nearly 70% of people in recovery got help with a drinking problem, and a shocking 52.87% of respondents sought the most treatment for alcohol abuse. Despite the wide variety of abused substances individuals seek treatment for, alcohol seems to cause the most widespread harm. Fortunately, recovery can start with one simple call.

In 2014, more than 16 million adults, or nearly 7% of the American adult population, had an alcohol use disorder.1 In addition, more than 5 million more partake in risky alcohol consumption, such as binge drinking, that could potentially lead to abuse.1

More than 8 million young people between the ages of 12 and 20 reported drinking alcohol beyond a few sips in the previous month they were surveyed.5 This is particularly worrying since compared to adult drinkers who started drinking around age 21, young people who begin drinking before the age of 15 are 4 times more likely to develop dependence on the drug.6

Research shows that the younger a person begins to drink, the more likely they will engage in harmful behaviors.5 In fact, nearly 40% of underage high school seniors have been drunk at some point and almost 20% reported drinking in excess of five drinks over the course of the previous two weeks.6 While rates of binge and heavy alcohol use among underage drinkers declined from 2002 and 2014, there are still more than 5 million youth who report being binge drinkers, and 1.3 million who report being heavy drinkers.7 These numbers reveal an alarmingly extensive problem and underscore the fact that alcohol is the most widely misused substance among America’s youth.8

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that in 2014 almost 57% of adults drank in the month prior to being surveyed and nearly 7% (or 16.3 million) of the American adult population have a drinking problem.1 Additionally, about 6% of seniors are considered heavy users of alcohol, suggesting alcohol-related problems are present among all ages.9

Based on these numbers, it is clear that alcoholism and alcohol abuse are serious problems that affect many people. Sadly, the numbers of those who actually get treatment for alcoholism and other alcohol-related problems are not nearly as high—in 2014, only 1.5 million adults received treatment at a specialized facility.1

The Cost of Alcohol Addiction

  • In 2013, almost half of the 72,559 liver disease deaths, including those resulting specifically from cirrhosis of the liver, involved alcohol.1
  • Excessive alcohol use results each year in approximately 2.5 million years of potential life lost, or an average loss of 30 years for each fatality.3
  • In 2010, more than 2.6 million hospitalizations were related to alcohol.23
  • About 1/3 of deaths resulting from alcohol problems take the form of suicides and such accidents as head injuries, drowning incidents, and motor vehicle crashes.24
  • About 20% of suicide victims in the United States involve people with alcohol problems.25
  • In 2014, 30% of the country’s fatal traffic incidents were related to alcohol-impaired driving.26
  • Among youth, underage drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths each year and 189,000 emergency room visits for alcohol-related injuries and other conditions.8
  • Excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among adults between 20 and 64 years.
  • In 2010, the economic impact of excessive alcohol use in the United States approached an estimated $249 billion.3

Financial Policies and Facility Offerings Are Important

Treatment-ChangesIn 2016, Recovery Brands collected data that asked patients who were leaving an addiction rehabilitation center what facility features they viewed as important things to take into account when considering treatment. The highest-rated priority was the facility’s financial policies, such as payment options, financial support, and insurance accepted. They also prioritized the facility’s offerings (recreation, comforts, quality of food) much more after experiencing treatment. If you’re looking for treatment, you may want to consider a program’s financial practices as well as the the facility’s offerings to help with your final treatment choice.

Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse: Men vs. Women

man holding glass of alcoholStudies consistently demonstrate that more men than women struggle with alcoholism and alcohol abuse. While 5.7 million women are affected by an alcohol use disorder in the United States, nearly twice as many men—about 10.6 million—are affected.1 With a little less than 6 million women struggling with alcoholism, this gender discrepancy obviously shouldn’t be taken to suggest that women are in the clear. Women may in fact need to be relatively more careful about their alcohol consumption because, due to gender differences in body structure and chemistry that result in them effectively absorbing more alcohol from their drinks, women can become more intoxicated more quickly than men when drinking comparable amounts of alcohol.10 In addition, women are more likely than men to experience problems related to alcohol, such as abusive relationships, unwanted sexual advances, and depression.11

Unsure where to start? Take Our Substance Abuse Self-Assessment

Take our free, 5-minute substance abuse self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with substance abuse. This evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are designed to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of a substance use disorder. The test is free, confidential, and no personal information is needed to receive the result. Please be aware that this evaluation is not a substitute for advice from a medical doctor.

Alcohol use and Abuse by Demographic

Within the general female population, there are additional demographic groups likely to experience problems resulting from alcohol use and abuse. For example, it is hypothesized that some lesbians use alcohol to cope with the stigma of being gay, as well as with their internalized homophobia,12 and high rates of co-occurring eating disorders and alcohol use also disproportionately affect women.13

High-risk drinking rates are higher among ethnic minorities, too, particularly Native Americans and Hispanics.14 About 27% of Native American women and almost 20% of Black women report being daily heavy drinkers.14

Children Affected by a Parents’ Alcoholism

  • In 2007, an estimated 76 million adult children of alcoholics lived in the United States.15
  • In 2012, more than 10% of U.S. children lived with a parent with alcohol problems.1

How Alcohol Addiction Affects Your Health?

woman passed out drinking on couch

The health problems related to alcohol addiction and alcoholism vary, but they are of great concern because of their severity. For example, a Harvard School of Public Health study showed that having 2 or more drinks a day increases the risk of developing breast cancer.20 Heavy alcohol use directly affects brain function and has been shown to induce mental disorders such as mood, anxiety, psychotic, sleep, and dementia disorders.21

In addition to mood and behavior changes, alcohol can affect thought, memory, and coordination. Excessive alcohol use can affect other organs such as the heart, liver, and pancreas, contributing to cardiomyopathy, irregular heartbeat, stroke, and high blood pressure.

  • Liver cirrhosis can occur from heavy drinking as can alcohol hepatitis and liver fibrosis.
  • Alcohol causes inflammation and swelling of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which can be painful and debilitating, and can prevent proper digestion.
  • Alcohol abuse increases the risk of developing certain cancers of the mouth, esophagus, throat, liver, and breast as well as weakening the immune system, making the body more susceptible to various diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis.22
  • Aside from injury, violence, alcohol poisoning, susceptibility to certain diseases, and mental health problems, alcohol dependence or alcoholism can develop from long-term use and result in social problems, such as job loss, family issues, and lost productivity to name a few.3
  • Pregnant women who drink are at risk for miscarriage, stillbirth, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.3
  • Alcohol use can interact with certain medications, increasing the risk of additional health problems or even death.3
  • In adolescents, alcohol use can interfere with brain development.1

What are the Effects of Binge drinking?

One of the major health issues resulting from excessive or binge drinking is liver disease. And beyond that, alcohol contributes to more than 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions, including cancers and injuries.1

In the United States, binge drinking is defined as a pattern of drinking that brings your blood alcohol concentration level to 0.08 g/dL or above within two hours.5 According to national surveys, about 92% of American adults who drink excessively reported binge drinking in the past 30 days.3 And although many binge drinkers are not dependent on alcohol, their drinking habits still make them prone to many health problems.3

  • Binge drinking is more common among young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 years.3
  • About 90% of alcohol consumed by underage drinkers is in the form of binge drinking.3

Binge Drinking Statistics

Excessive underage drinking has many consequences that affect college students across the United States, whether or not they choose to drink:

  • Academic problems: Approximately 25% of college students reported falling behind, missing class, doing poorly on papers and exams, and receiving low grades as a result of drinking.16
  • Alcohol abuse and dependence: About 20% of students meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder.16
  • Assault: About 696,000 students aged 18 to 24 became victims of assault; the perpetrators in these cases were other students who had been drinking.16
  • Death: About 1,825 college students aged 18 to 24 die from unintentional injuries related to alcohol.16
  • Drunk driving: 85% of alcohol-impaired driving is associated with binge drinking.17
  • Alcohol poisoning: Each year thousands of college students are transported to the emergency room because of alcohol poisoning, which can result in permanent brain damage or even death.16
  • Health problems and suicide attempts: Suicide attempts are significantly higher in those who drink heavily compared with those who do not drink.17 Liver and other organ damage can result from long-term excessive drinking.16
  • Injury: An estimated 10% of college students are injured because of drinking.17
  • Police involvement: An estimated 112,000 students were arrested for an alcohol-related offense in a single year.18
  • Property damage and vandalism: Many colleges in the United States have major or moderate problems with property damage resulting from alcohol use; making these claims are more than 50% of administrators from colleges with high drinking levels among students, and more than 25% of administrators from colleges with low student drinking levels.18
  • Sexual abuse: Approximately 97,000 students aged 18 to 24 reported experiencing sexual assault or date rape as a result from alcohol use.16
  • Unsafe sex: An estimated 8% of college students had unprotected sex as a result of their drinking.17

Given some of these consequences, it is clear that there is a strong relationship between crime and alcohol use. About 3 million violent crimes occur annually in the United States, and alcohol plays a role in 40% of them.19 Two-thirds of victims who have suffered domestic or partner violence reported there had been alcohol involved, and among cases of spousal violence, 3 out of 4 incidents involved an offender who had been under the influence of alcohol.19

Statistics on Drug Addiction In the U.S.

In 2015, 27 million Americans said they’d misused prescription opioids or illegal drugs, including:27,28

  • Vicodin and OxyContin.
  • Heroin.
  • Xanax and other sedatives.
  • Cocaine, methamphetamine, and other non-prescription stimulants.
  • Adderall and other prescription stimulants.
  • LSD and other hallucinogens.

Studies continue to find that illicit drug use in the United States is increasing, with 24.6 million Americans, 12 years of age and older, using one within a one-month timeframe in 2013.28 What many people may not know is that the upswing in illicit drug use is mostly attributed to the rise in marijuana use, which has increased roughly 7.5% since 2007.28

It is generally understood that the younger people are when using an addictive substance, the more vulnerable they become to developing an addiction later in life. An encouraging trend in substance abuse among high school students shows a continual decline of opioid, stimulant, and other illicit substance use. Some more promising news regarding addiction statistics is the stabilization and actual decline of many illicit and dangerous substances that once plagued our country. Specifically, cocaine use declined from approximately 2.4 million in 2007 to 1.5 million in 2013.28

As of 2017, other than marijuana, the use of illicit drugs continues to hold strong at the lowest levels in more than 2 decades; several other substances also reached historically low levels of use, including: 29

  • Prescription opioids.
  • MDMA.
  • Sedatives.
  • Heroin.
  • Methamphetamine and amphetamine.

The Cost of Drug Addiction

The social and monetary costs of drug addiction are staggering. From an economic standpoint, substance abuse costs the country more $600 billion dollars on an annual basis.34 The societal costs of drug addiction are also significant. Entire communities are suffering due to addiction-related problems such as the neglect of children, violence, crime, and the increased cost of health care.34

As a society, we have a tendency to judge those with a drug or alcohol addiction and, more often than not, send them to jail rather than rehabilitation despite the former costing far more than the latter. The average cost for 1 year of methadone maintenance treatment is roughly $4,700, while holding someone in prison for one year costs approximately $24,000.34 Each dollar devoted to substance abuse treatment programs receives a return of $4 to $7 in costs to the court system.34

What are the Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction?

The consequences of drug abuse can be severe, destructive, and sometimes irreparable. Drug abuse and addiction can affect your life on every possible level, including socially, financially, occupationally, and health-wise. A few reasons for this are that feeding a drug habit requires a lot of money and being under the influence of drugs makes it difficult to honor your work obligations. The unrelenting cycle of high drug costs and incapacitation can lead to stealing, lying, or cheating to support your addiction.

Personal problems that drug addiction sometimes lead to may include:30

  • Crime.
  • Difficulty keeping a job and other work-related problems.
  • Homelessness.
  • Contracting a disease(s).
  • Degeneration of physical and mental health.
  • Conflicted relationships with loved ones.
  • Isolation.
  • Death.

Certain drug abuse impacts your judgement and reaction time because these substances slow down your cognitive and motor functioning through various biological actions. Slow reaction time and impaired judgment can lead to a plethora of social and behavioral problems due to an inability to make rational decisions, including:29

  • Physical violence.
  • Risky sexual behaviors.
  • Child abuse and neglect.
  • Driving under the influence.
  • Crime, such as theft and prostitution.
  • The spread of infectious diseases.

One of the biggest problems drug addiction can cause is in your relationships with friends and family. Once you’re in the grips of an unrelenting addiction, your personality changes because you believe drug is an integral part of your survival. You make decisions in addiction that you would have never even entertained the thought of prior to your addiction.

If you have children, problems can include:31

  • Forgetting to feed, wash, and dress your children.
  • Exposing your children to harmful environments or people.
  • Not paying rent, electric, water, and other essential bills.
  • Abusing/neglecting your children’s physical, emotional, and medical needs.
  • Exposing your children to fights and conflict.
  • An inability to protect your children from accidents and other harm.
  • Increasing the likelihood that your children will have a drug problem.
  • Possibly having your children removed from your care by Child Protective Services.

Statistics on Heroin Addiction and Abuse

An irreversible problem caused by opioid abuse is death by overdose, as evidenced in these statistics:32

  • The number of heroin overdose deaths has nearly tripled since 2010.
  • Heroin overdose deaths were highest among adults between the ages of 25 and 44 from 2000 to 2013.
  • In 2013, the rate of heroin overdose was 4 times higher in men than women.
  • Between 2000 and 2013, the rate for overdose deaths involving heroin rose in each area across the country, with the Midwest experiencing the largest increase.

How Drug Addiction Affects Your Health?

Provided you avoid an accidental overdose, you will most likely experience other health-related issues as a result of your drug abuse. Certain drugs can cause specific types of health problems, given their chemical makeup and the way they are ingested or metabolized into the body. For example, methamphetamine can cause serious dental issues, while inhalants can destroy cells in the peripheral nervous system and brain.33

Other diseases can result from the intravenous use of opioids, crack, and crystal meth, such as:33

  • HIV.
  • Hepatitis C (a virus of the liver that causes inflammation).
  • Cellulitis (a skin infection).
  • Endocarditis (an infection of the heart valves).

Drug addiction can also affect the health of those around you. Secondhand smoke has been well researched related to tobacco and is just beginning in relation to illicit substances that people commonly smoke. Presently, one study found that nonsmoking subjects exposed for an hour to high-THC marijuana in an unventilated space reported mild drug effects, and an additional study showed positive urine screens in the subjects in the hours immediately after being exposed.33

Also, engaging in unprotected sex after IV drug use exposes your partner to the infections listed above, and being under the influence of drugs makes it more likely that you will engage in risky sexual behaviors due to your impaired judgment.33

If you’re pregnant, drug use during pregnancy can cause your baby to be born with an addiction. This can lead to your baby experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after they are born.33 Symptoms of NAS vary depending on what you used during pregnancy. Common symptoms can include seizures, restlessness, tremors, and difficulty eating and sleeping.33

Along with physical health issues, your mental health can also be jeopardized by drug abuse. Many people who abuse substances also have a mental health disorder, such as depression or anxiety, and using drug or alcohol can exacerbate the symptoms associated with these disorders. In some cases, substance abuse can be the cause of mental health issues.33  

Don’t Become a Statistic: Get Help for Drug and Alcohol Addiction Today

Our country used to think of substance abuse as an ethical or moral failure rather than the deadly disease that it actually is.1 This could be one factor why today, only 10% of people with a substance use disorder receive treatment.1 Additionally, of the 40% of people who suffer from addiction and mental health problems (co-occurring disorders), less than half of those people obtain treatment.27

However, there are treatment options available for you or anyone who has an addiction. While there are still improvements to be made in the accessibility and quality of rehabs, recent changes to our health system have made it easier to find and get into appropriate recovery programs.35

While it may seem like a daunting task, finding a suitable recovery program is possible. If you are thinking about going to rehab, consider reaching out to a trusted loved one for support throughout the process.

Next, talk to your primary care doctor about possible referrals to a treatment program or addiction specialist in your area. There are 3,500 board-certified doctors who specialize in addiction in the United States, so it’s possible to find one near you.36 If you have health insurance, consider contacting your insurance provider to identify what services are covered and to obtain referrals to suitable treatment providers.

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