That’s the highest rate recorded in at least 40 years, said the study’s lead author, Merianne Spencer. The rate of such deaths had been increasing in the two decades before the pandemic, by 7% or less each year. “Alcohol is often overlooked” as a public health problem, said Marissa Esser, who leads the CDC’s alcohol program. Alcohol is one of the most commonly used drugs in America, and it is also one of the deadliest, with more and more people losing their lives to alcohol-related causes over the last two decades. A new report reveals how the problem has become more acute in recent years. Keith Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, joins William Brangham to discuss.

Implications for Public Health Practice

1. During the pandemic, telehealth services for behavioral health and other care may have been more accessible to those living in urban areas, where an internet connection is more likely to be available or reliable (Figure 5).
2. Treatment rates for alcohol use disorders are notably low, especially for the use of medication, a recommended AUD treatment component.
3. Understanding trends in alcohol-induced mortality, with a particular focus on differences from 2019 to 2020, may help identify groups particularly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. In fact, it contributes to about 88,000 deaths annually in the U.S., making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

The data showed that the deaths fully attributable to alcohol have risen in the past decade, Esser added. The percentage of deaths attributed to alcohol use varied state by state, but nationally it’s a leading cause of preventable death, said lead study author Dr. Marissa Esser, lwho leads the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s alcohol program. The rise of home delivery services for alcohol enabled people to avoid stepping outside and possibly getting sick, but also further isolated them, Siegel Cocaine Withdrawal and Recovery said. Other policy changes, like permitting alcohol to be carried in to-go cups, posed “a risk factor for excessive alcohol use,” Esser said.

Among males, the largest percentage increases in death rates from 2019 to 2020 were for age groups under 45.

Global Efforts and ChallengesDespite warnings and information campaigns by embassies and international organizations, such tragedies persist. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières has noted the widespread risk in the region, emphasizing the need for stricter law enforcement, public awareness campaigns, and measures to eliminate counterfeit alcohol. BANGKOK, Thailand – The death toll from a bootleg alcohol cluster in Laos has risen to six, following the passing of a 19-year-old Australian woman, Holly Bowles, who died while receiving treatment in Thailand, November 22. A tool on the CDC website can help individuals evaluate their drinking and then come up with a plan to make healthier alcohol choices.

It’s also a risk to others through drunken driving or alcohol-fueled violence. Surveys suggest that more than half the alcohol sold in the U.S. is consumed during binge drinking episodes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already said the overall number of such deaths rose in 2020 and 2021. Two reports from the CDC this week provided further details on which groups have the highest death rates and which states are seeing the largest numbers.

Over 3 million annual deaths due to alcohol and drug use, majority among men

For example, among those who meet the criteria for SUD—which may include symptoms like increased tolerance, repeated attempts to quit or control use, or social problems related to use–95% of adults did not seek treatment and didn’t think they needed it. Initiatives aimed at early screening in non-traditional settings, such as schools may help early detection and lead to more timely linkages of individuals to treatment resources. Most of the 145 countries that reported data did not have a specific budget line or data on governmental expenditures for treatment of substance use disorders.

The report shows an estimated 400 million people lived with alcohol use disorders globally. By 2020 to 2021, alcohol contributed to more than 178,000 U.S. deaths per year on average, the report said. Over half of alcohol-related deaths are because of health effects from drinking too much over time. But drinking a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time can also be deadly. It can cause alcohol poisoning or lead to other dangers like motor vehicle accidents.

For people ages 20 to 64, drinking-related deaths accounted for 1 in 8, the study said. More than 140,000 of that broader category of alcohol-related deaths occur annually, based on data from 2015 to 2019, the researchers said. CDC researchers say about 82,000 of those deaths are from drinking too much over a long period of time and 58,000 from causes tied to acute intoxication. More government data points to alcohol’s increasing role in U.S deaths, including a new report that found that the alcohol-induced death rate rose nearly 30% during the first year of the COVID pandemic.