Alcohol related ED visits account for nearly half of all SUD related visits (45%), far higher than the next highest group, opioids, accounting for 13% of ED visits. What people shouldn’t be doing is justifying their drinking because it’s supposed to be healthy, says Luis Seija, an internist and pediatrician at the University of Pennsylvania. That misconception is rooted in a 1992 paper that found that moderate wine consumption protected French people against heart disease—even though their diet included plenty of meat, oil and butter. Non-alcoholic beer and cider enjoy the largest share of non-alcoholic beverages, representing 81% of all NA beverage servings; this subcategory’s volume increased by 30% year-over-year.
Mental Health Impact
Figure 18 shows the proportion of adults starting treatment each year between 2015 to 2016 and 2023 to 2024 split by the 4 substance groups. There were 370 young people who left treatment in secure settings in 2023 to 2024. Young people often enter specialist substance misuse services with a range of problems or vulnerabilities that are related (or in addition) to their substance use. These include using multiple substances (polydrug use) and being a parent or pregnant. There were 38 adults who died while they were in treatment in 2023 to 2024, which represented 0.08% of all people in treatment.
The Consequences of Drug Abuse
Sixteen per cent of children of parents starting treatment were receiving early help. The children of people starting treatment can receive more than one type of early help. Early help services provide support to children and their families as soon as problems emerge. Twenty-eight per cent of people starting treatment who were in contact with children’s social care had a looked after child, though this proportion was higher in the opiate group, at 38%. There were 38,351 people who started treatment for drug and alcohol problems in a secure setting in 2023 to 2024.
Statistics in this publication
The death rate from excessive alcohol use in Hawaii is below average, but alcohol-related death is more prevalent among males than anywhere else in the United States (excluding territories). Alcohol Use Disorder and alcoholism have damaged some groups or demographics more than others. Alcohol abuse statistics indicate some inequalities may be due to social conditioning.
Kentucky Alcohol Abuse Statistics
Find out how many people have alcohol use disorder in the United States across age groups and demographics. Binge-drinking is a significant problem in Wisconsin, and alcohol-related deaths are more likely to involve older, long-term users. Alcohol-related deaths in Vermont are average, https://northiowatoday.com/2025/01/27/sober-house-rules-what-you-should-know-before-moving-in/ but under-21 deaths are among the lowest nationwide.
These limitations make it hard to know how much to rely on studies that find health risks (or benefits) to alcohol consumption. The proportion of people starting treatment who reported alcohol problems was similar to previous years, with 42% of people in 2023 to 2024 compared to 43% in 2022 to 2023. The proportion of people in treatment for cannabis has remained consistent between 2015 to 2016 (29%) and this year (also 29%). Adults in alcohol and drug treatment in secure settings tended to be younger than those in community-based treatment.
- NHS England commissions specialist treatment services in secure settings which are equivalent to community-based treatment and informed by evidence-based clinical guidance.
- The societal toll of alcohol addiction underscores the importance of prevention and treatment efforts.
- Michigan has a slightly higher rate of alcohol-related deaths and female drinking deaths.
- Riding the coattails of the rise in food delivery services, alcohol delivery has also become much more common in recent years.
How Many People Die from Alcohol-Related Causes?
Across age groups, people aged 45 to 64 have the highest alcohol death rate, followed by 65+. Death rates in males are more than double that of females and people who reside in rural areas have death rates higher than those who live in urban areas (Figure 2). Alcohol deaths have steadily climbed over the past decade, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic (Figure 1).
Young people’s treatment
We’ve broken down the top five alcohol and beverage trends to look out for in 2025. Before getting into specific alcohol and beverage trends for 2025, let’s step back and look at the big picture in order to understand Americans’ habits and sentiments regarding alcohol. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has published healthcare standards for children and young people in secure settings. Most adults released from prison with a continuing treatment need are in the opiate group (86%), although this proportion was as low as 68% in 2015 to 2016. This group are the most likely to successfully begin treatment in the community, with 56% doing so. Rates of successfully transferring from prison to community treatment varied around regions in England.
Of the people transferring from another secure setting, 36% took over 3 weeks to start treatment. Opiates was also the largest group in the next oldest category, 50 to 59 year olds. The largest group for adults aged 18 to 29 was non-opiates, and the largest group for those aged 60 and over was alcohol only. In prisons and immigration removal centres, the biggest category was the opiate group (48% and 76% respectively).
The proportion of people starting treatment for opiates, crack or both has increased steadily from a low of 54% in 2021 to 2022 to 58% this year. The most common vulnerability by far was polydrug use (48% of young people starting treatment). Figure 5 shows a breakdown of the substances reported by people in prison treatment in 2023 to 2024, split into the 4 substance groups. Up to 3 substances can be recorded at the start of treatment, so one person could be counted for several substances within their substance group. For example, somebody who has problems with cocaine, cannabis and alcohol use would be counted in the non-opiate and alcohol group for these 3 substances.
Despite this, less than half of the US public is aware of any alcohol-cancer connection. Changing the labels as suggested by the Surgeon General will require congressional action that may never happen. Alcohol use is a known risk factor for mortality, and the rates of alcohol-induced deaths have risen over the past several years (1).
In other words, the likelihood that a user may overdose or develop health issues has no impact on its classification as a Schedule I – V drug. Non-sanctioned/non-medical/non-prescribed use of these controlled substances is considered drug abuse. For more information, see our report on alcohol abuse and alcohol-related deaths. Wyoming has one of the nation’s highest rates of alcohol-related deaths per capita. Underage drinkers are slightly less common among alcohol-related deaths in Washington. Michigan has a slightly higher rate of alcohol-related deaths and female drinking deaths.
In the other major categories, beer volume sales declined 1% but value increased 4%, while the volume of wine sales declined steeply at 4%, part of a long term trend in the industry. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the numbers driving the biggest changes in the alcohol and beverage world—and the biggest trends to look out for in 2025. In 2022 to 2023, 22% of young people declined treatment, the highest proportion since reporting began. As in previous years, people with opiate problems were most at risk, with 61% of all deaths occurring in this group.
There were 38 adults who died while they were in treatment in secure settings in 2023 to 2024. This represents 0.08% of the total adults in treatment and is a similar proportion (0.09%) to the previous year, when 44 people died. And from March 2020 to March 2024, sales increased 54%, reaching $9.2 billion—a faster growth rate than the broader NA beverage market (43%).
But we’re not just talking about White Claw and Truly—increasingly, higher end RTD cocktails are entering the market, giving people the opportunity to try high quality products without going to a bar or studying mixology. Beer is the winner among the youngest cohort, while wine is the preferred beverage for people in the 55-and-over age group; nearly twice as many consumers in that group said they preferred wine compared to those under sober house 35. The middle cohort was the most ambivalent, with only 5% separating their first and third choice (beer and wine, respectively). You can read more about how NHS England commissions healthcare for young people and adults across secure settings at the health and justice page on the NHS England website. In 2022 to 2023, the proportion of young people in treatment who left treatment because they were released from court and discharged before a transfer to community services could be arranged was 9%.