Facts About Drug Abuse

Alcohol

• Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths annually, making it the third leading cause of preventable mortality in the U.S., after tobacco and diet/activity patterns (J McGinnis & W Foege, “Actual Causes of Death in the United States,” Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Vol.270, No.18, 11/10/93, p. 2208).
• Among 9,484 deaths attributed to non-medical use of other drugs in 1996, 37% also involved alcohol (SAMHSA, Annual Medical Examiner Data 1996, 7/98, p. iii).

Facts About Drug Abuse and Alcohol Abuse at Work

• 21% of workers reported being injured or put in danger, having to re-do work or to cover for a co-worker, or needing to work harder due to others’ drinking (Ibid, p.2).
• Up to 40% of industrial fatalities and 47% of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism. These facts about drug abuse are from M Bernstein’s and JJ Mahoney’s “Management Perspectives on Alcoholism: The Employer’s Stake in Alcoholism Treatment,” Occupational Medicine, Vol 4, No. 2, 1989, pp. 223-232.
• 60% of alcohol-related work performance problems can be attributed to employees who are not alcohol dependent, but who occasionally drink too much on a work night or drink during a weekday lunch (TW Mangione, et. al, “New Perspectives for Worksite Alcohol Strategies: Results from a Corporate Drinking Study,” JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., Boston, MA, 12/98, p.1)
• Employees who were in serious trouble with alcohol showed significant improvement in drinking behavior and job adjustment during the months immediately following an intervention to confront problem drinking that was intruding on their work (NIAAA, Alcohol Health & Research World (AHRW): Alcohol and the Workplace, Vol. 16, No. 2, 1992, p.147).

Facts About Drug Abuse: Drugs, Alcohol and Youth

• Use of alcohol and other drugs is associated with the leading causes of death and injury (e.g., motor-vehicle crashes, homicides, and suicides) among teenagers and young adults (Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among High School Students – United States, 1990, “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 11/91, p.776.
• In 1995, 21.5% (262,112) of the clients admitted to alcohol or other drug treatment programs were under age 24, including 18,194 under age 15 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment Services, Advance Report No. 12, 2/97, p. 30).
• A clear relationship exists between alcohol use and grade-point average among college students: students with GPAs of D or F drink three times as much as those who earn As (C Presley and P Meilman, “Alcohol and Drugs on American College Campuses,” Student Health Program Wellness Center, Southern Illinois University, 7/92).
• Almost half of college students who were victims of campus crimes said they were drinking or using other drugs when they were victimized (CR Bausell et al, “The Links Among Drugs, Alcohol and Campus Crime,” Towson State University Center for Study and Prevention of Campus Violence, MD, 1990).
• 31.9% of youth under 18 in long-term, State-operated juvenile institutions in 1987 were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the arrest (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Survey of Youth in Custody, 1987. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, 9/88)