Press Release Findings from the first-ever study of marijuana’s secondhand harms show that fewer harms were attributed to someone else’s marijuana use than from secondhand drinking. The new research from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, and RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, was conducted using 2014 to 2016 data from Washington State where recreational marijuana use has been legal since 2012. The study was published today in the Journal of … [Read more...]
New Findings
A major component of ARG’s activities is centered on epidemiology of drinking patterns, which we study in depth, and how these and many other factors, both individual, especially gender, racial/ethnic, sexual minority, and socioeconomic disparities, and environmental, such as neighborhood disadvantage and state and local policies, affect alcohol-related problems. These problems include alcohol use disorders and associated social and health harms such as, for example, injuries, drinking driving, work, legal, health and family or relationship difficulties, various co-morbidities such as mental health and other drug use, and alcohol-related mortality. In addition we strive always to improve measurement, data collection and analytic methodologies.
Injury-related Hospitalizations Rise after Liquor Sales Go Private
New research shows an increased rate of hospitalizations for accidental injuries in urban areas after Washington State privatized their liquor sales. The study found an additional 17,498 hospitalizations in metropolitan-urban counties in the 2.5 years after Initiative 1183 was passed compared to neighboring Oregon. Non-metropolitan-urban and rural counties did not see their hospitalization rates change. Initiative 1183 called for closing state-run liquor stores and allowing state licensing of … [Read more...]
Healthy Lifestyle Class Identified among Whites and Hispanics but Not among Blacks
A new study looks at clustered risk behaviors across racial/ethnic groups In the first study to identify clustered risk health behaviors among whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, ARG Scientist Won Kim Cook and colleagues illustrate the need to develop tailored multi-behavioral interventions to address racial disparities in health outcomes. The research team focused on the "big four" risk behaviors that contribute to chronic conditions and morbidity: risky drinking, cigarette smoking, poor diet, … [Read more...]
Washington State Residents Would Change Their Vote on Privatizing Liquor Sales
A new study looks at the shifts in voters' opinions since privatization in Washington State A new study shows that voters in Washington State would likely reject privatization of liquor sales if the vote was held today. The study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, found that Washington residents who voted in favor of ending state controls on liquor sales in 2011 were 2.59 times more likely to want to change their vote than residents who voted against it. … [Read more...]
New study models how cities can estimate the true cost of alcohol
Alcohol problems cost Baltimore city more than $2 per drink A new study from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Boston University estimates that health and safety problems attributable to alcohol use cost $582.3 million in Baltimore City in 2013 — the equivalent of approximately $2.04 per drink. The study included costs from lost productivity; health care costs for chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, hypertension and stroke, as well as … [Read more...]
Recent increases in alcohol consumption may be higher than previously reported
Study finds a more accurate way to measure per capita alcohol consumption that accounts for changes to how much alcohol is in beer, wine, and spirits The way we currently measure how much alcohol each person is consuming may be less accurate than previously thought, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute. The study authors offer a new way to determine per capita alcohol consumption that accounts for changes to the alcohol content of … [Read more...]
New treatment program helps women significantly reduce how much they drink even after treatment ends
A new clinical trial shows that intensive motivational interviewing (IMI), an intervention that was first used to treat methamphetamine dependence, is highly effective in curbing how much women with alcohol problems drank two months after the program ended with consumption levels sustained at the six-month follow-up. Women who were heavy drinkers experienced the greatest effect. Heavy drinking was defined as drinking 14 or more days to the point of intoxication over the past 30 days. The study … [Read more...]
Alcohol causes significant harm to those other than the drinker
Each year, one in five U.S. adults -- an estimated 53 million people -- experience harm because of someone else’s drinking, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Similar to how policymakers have addressed the effects of secondhand smoke over the last two decades, society needs to combat the secondhand effects of drinking, the authors state, calling alcohol’s harm to others “a significant public health issue.” According to the study -- an analysis of U.S. … [Read more...]
Alcohol policies aimed at stopping pregnant women from drinking cause worse birth outcomes, increase public health costs
State-level alcohol/drug pregnancy policies lead to increased low birthweight and preterm births, costing millions of dollars per year A new study finds that several state-level policies targeting alcohol and drug use during pregnancy lead to greater numbers of low birthweight (LBW) and preterm births (PTB), resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars more in public health spending each year. The study—a collaboration between the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health … [Read more...]
Self-administered Intervention Reduces Alcohol Consumption among Women who are Risky Drinkers
Study shows efficacy of digital tool as a harm reduction strategy A new study from ARG Scientist Madhabika Nayak and colleagues found that women who were risky drinkers and completed an electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) program called DrinkWise significantly reduced their weekly alcohol use and heavy alcohol use at the six-month follow up, compared to those who did not complete the program. This is the first non-intensive (single session), self-administered e-SBI in English … [Read more...]
