Annually Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducts the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to shed awareness on the nation’s drug abuse. Included in the studies is the drug “Alcohol”. Alcohol is defined as beverages that contain alcohol and a drink is defined as a can or bottle of beer, glass of wine or a wine beverage, a shot of liquor or a mixed drink or emerges with a shot of alcohol in it. A sip or taste of alcohol is not considered to be a drink. The study looks at current use which is defined as one drink during the past 30 days. Binge use is considered to be five or more drinks in one sitting and heavy use is defined as binge use on at least five days during the past 30 days.
It is believed that 131.3 million people are users of alcohol in the United States, more than half of the population above the age of 12. Nearly a quarter of them participated in binge drinking at least once in 30 days. Heavy drinkers accounted for 6.7 percent of the population remaining virtually unchanged from the prior year. Under aged drinking is of great concern, 3.1 percent of drinkers were aged 12 or 13, 12.4 percent aged 14 or 15 24.6 percent were aged 16 or 17 and 48.9 percent were aged 18 to 20.
Alcohol plays a significant role in our culture with young adults aged 21 to 25 attributed to 70 percent of the consumption.
**** You can find the full report here: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-41, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4658. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2011.
