The Facts Concerning Alcohol in America

Proverbs 20:1, the Bible says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

These statistics are taken from the following independent and academic resources:

· Alcoholics Anonymous

· Center for Disease Control (CDC)

· National Highway Traffic Safety Admistration

· Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

· National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

· American Automobile Association (AAA)

· Harvard School of Public Health

· National Academy of Sciences

· National Institutes of Health

· Journal of the American Medical Association

· National Mental Health Association

Almost half of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related.

One quarter of all emergency room admissions, one-third of all suicides, and more than half of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol related.

Between 48 and 64 percent of people who die in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating intoxication.

The risk of hemorrhagic stroke is three times higher among heavy drinkers.

About 20 percent of those people who commit suicide are alcohol abusers, according to the National Mental Health Association.

Heavy drinking contributes to illness in each of the top three causes of death—heart disease, cancer and stroke.

1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.

500,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol.

A report by the national Academy of Sciences states that 60 percent of eighth graders say alcohol is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain. Ninety percent of twelfth graders say it is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain.

More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or rape.

According to the National Institutes of health, children who begin drinking before the age of fifteen are four times as likely to become alcoholics as teens who abstain from drinking.

A study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association said that sales to under-age drinkers amount to nearly 20 percent of the total alcohol market, or about $20 billion in illegally purchased alcohol.

More than 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.

Alcohol is the leading cause of death for persons under age twenty-one.

A 2002 study by Henry Wechsler of the Harvard School of Public health found that among college women who drink alcohol, unplanned sex and sexual assault increased by 50 percent.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) said that teens who has 4 to 6 drinks are 90 times more likely to die in a crash than a sober driver.

Studies show that in the United States, 50 to 60 percent of physical attacks in the home involved alcohol use. One-third to one-half of all batterers are reported to be problem drinkers.

Taxpayers cover much of the cost of alcohol-related disease through publicly funded insurance policies like Medicaid.

Cocaine problems are often masked by alcohol problems, and many people who are admitted to treatment centers for alcoholism are actually involved in one or more other drugs.

Forty-three percent of AA members under 30 claim they were addicted to another drug as well as to alcohol.