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Impact of Alcohol
Most of the harm that comes from alcohol stems from over-intoxication. Research shows, that most people dramatically underestimate the risks of casual alcohol use, and dramatically overestimate the level of intoxication that produces risk. Surveys demonstrate that a majority of people determine what a “safe level of intoxication” is, based upon the limits set by drunk driving laws. Based upon DWI enforcement guidelines, many believe .07% B.A.C. to be a safe level of intoxication. Some even express acceptance of higher levels of intoxication, so long as driving is not one of the activities being undertaken. This is a dangerous misconception.
Drunk driving laws proscribe a maximum B.A.C., a relatively high level, at which point the driver is considered to be indisputably drunk in the eyes of the law. In actuality, impairment becomes evident at .02% and is considered significant at .04%. Moreover, DWI laws address driving. Many casual activities like cooking, swimming, showering, using everyday sharp objects or walking on stairs can -and do- prove equally fatal for thousands of alcohol users every year. So think twice before prescribing a “cold shower” to someone that is believed to be intoxicated. 70% of all household accidents occur in the bathroom.
Accidental Injury: A 2009 study published in the health care journal, “Injury Prevention”, found that alcohol use increases a person’s risk of falling by 300%. Nearly 40% of all fatal falls are attributed to alcohol use, as are approximately one-third of all fatal fires. According to the IRETA, 20,000 people enter American emergency rooms every day for alcohol related injury or illness. That’s 7.6 million people per year. Between one-quarter and one-third of all hospital admissions in the United States involve alcohol consumption as a main or co-existing condition. According to the United States C.D.C. Injury Statistics Reporting System, alcohol is involved in 37% of all fatal car crashes. It played a significant role in 3.7 million non-fatal falls, 3.6 million non-fatal bicycle/pedestrian/moped accidents and 60,000 non-fatal firearm injuries in 2008. At over 80,000 deaths being directly attributed per year, the C.D.C. currently ranks Alcohol use as the third greatest preventable cause of death for Americans. Greater than car crashes, violent crime and all illicit drug use combined, alcohol use costs our citizens an estimated 2.5 million years of human life lost…per year.
Crime and Victimization: According to the U.S. Department of Justice report “Alcohol and Crime”, Alcohol is a factor in approximately forty percent of all violent crimes. Alcohol related crime costs its victims over $400 million dollars per year. Alcohol plays a role in at least 66% of all domestic violence assaults. About half of all persons involved in murders, as either a victim or perpetrator, are linked by alcohol use at the time of the offense. 46% of all those who commit assaults are under the influence of alcohol at the time and about 36% of all rapes are committed by offenders who are intoxicated. The figures on assault and rape are much higher when isolated to the college campus environment. (1)
Personal and Societal Loss: M.A.D.D. figures for 2006 report that 17,602 American citizens were killed in alcohol-related vehicle crashes. Compare that to the 1,882 American soldiers that were killed that year in Iraq, Afganistan and all other American military operations combined. The United States claims an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 30 minutes; a toll that defies monetary value. The NHTSA reports that over 1.46 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics in 2006. The financial and logistical resources expended in the detection, arrest and prosecution of these offenses are in the billions. M.A.D.D. reports that the physical property destroyed by drunk drivers in 2006 accounted for over $100 billion in damages. The majority of these costs were funded by insurance companies and government, who then passed the cost onto all Americans.
Research conducted by Columbia University has found that an estimated 79% of our nation’s jail 
expenditures (more than $40 billion annually) are spent on offenders who abuse alcohol or drugs. According to a study published by the Association of American Physicians, the annual health care expenditures attributable to alcohol use in America were $175.9 billion per year in 1995. That’s compared to $137 billion for tobacco, and $114.2 billion for all other drug problems combined. Besides being more accident prone, intoxicated patients are harder to diagnose and treat, research published in the “Journal of Trauma, Injury and Critical Care” found that intoxicated patients cost an average of $1833 more to treat than do those who have not consumed alcohol.
Addiction: According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are approximately 14 million American’s currently suffering from alcoholism, or engaging in abusive alcohol consumption. More than one half of American adults report having a close family member that has struggled with alcoholism. One in four children currently reside with a parent that abuses alcohol. The toll that these circumstances take upon the American family, upon the American way of life, and upon our outlook for the future, are tragic. And they are preventable.
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Sources:
1. Alcohol and Crime: An analysis of national data on the prevalence of alcohol involvement in crime. Lawrence A. Greenfeld. US Department of Justice, Bureau of National Statistics; April 7, 1998.