PRESS RELEASE Shifting alcohol availability, accessibility, and coping strategies drove higher consumption A new study published today in PLOS One uncovers key social and environmental factors that drove a significant rise in alcohol consumption during COVID-19. Researchers from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, found that increased alcohol availability and accessibility, and drinking as a coping mechanism, played a major role in shaping drinking … [Read more...]
Press Release
Millions of Americans Hurt By Others’ Drinking, Drug Use: Study
by Amy Norton PISCATAWAY, NJ – The risks of alcohol and other drug consumption to the user are well known, but many Americans—nearly 160 million—say they’ve been harmed by someone else’s substance use, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. In a national survey of U.S. adults, researchers found that 34% said they’d ever suffered “secondhand harm” from someone else’s alcohol use—ranging from marriage and family problems to financial fall-out to being … [Read more...]
Alcohol and Drug Use Cause Significant Harms that Go Beyond the Individual
Among study respondents, 34.2% experienced secondhand harms from alcohol, 5.5% from cannabis, 7.6% from opioids, and 8.3% from other drugs. Press Release: A new study estimates that over their lifetime, more than a third of U.S. adults or 113 million people are harmed from someone else’s drinking while 46 million experience harms from someone’s else’s drug use. The study, conducted by the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, in collaboration with RTI … [Read more...]
Availability of alcohol soared during the first year of the pandemic
Press Release: May 11, 2023 During the first year of the pandemic, the number of people who live in a state that allowed bars and/or restaurants to deliver alcohol rose by 284%. This increase was more dramatic for to-go sales, climbing by 627%, according to a new study from researchers at the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, and RTI International. Researchers combined state policy data with survey data on alcohol purchases during the pandemic. This enabled … [Read more...]
COVID-19 Study Finds More Drinking, but Fewer Drinkers
US national study compares alcohol consumption before COVID-19 to after and finds significant changes in who is drinking and how much Emeryville, CA (June 26, 2022) — A new study published today in the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that alcohol consumption patterns changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when compared to the pre-pandemic period. While the proportions of the population that was drinking and drinking with a risky pattern declined, … [Read more...]
For Black Americans, Low Socioeconomic Position and Adverse School Experiences Earlier in Life Linked to Heavy Drinking in Adulthood
Press Release EMERYVILLE, CA -- A new longitudinal study examining how educational and socioeconomic experiences during adolescence can lead to midlife (ages 42-52) heavy drinking among Black Americans has found significant pathways connecting the two. Led by researchers at the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute and released in Addiction, the study examined data on individuals followed more than 30 years and included analyses of adolescent poverty and … [Read more...]
Childhood Adversity Plays a Large Role in Heavy Alcohol Use
ARG Study Finds Childhood Trauma and History of Family Alcohol Problems Increase Likelihood of High Intensity Drinking, Particularly among Indigenous American Drinkers Press Release Emeryville, CA (September 20, 2021) – In new research that compares drinking rates across racial/ethnic groups, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) current drinkers report more instances of high intensity drinking (eight or more drinks in any one day) than Whites and other groups combined. However, when … [Read more...]
Connected Neighbors Experience far Fewer Harms from Someone Else’s Drinking
Neighbors Who Feel Connected to One Another Experience far Fewer Harms from Someone Else’s Alcohol Use Press Release People living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social cohesion experience fewer harms from a stranger's drinking, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute. Published today in Alcohol and Alcoholism, the study examined the ways a neighborhood's social environment—alcohol availability, places where people drink, … [Read more...]
Cannabis Causes Fewer Harms to Others than Alcohol
Cannabis Can Hurt More than Just the User but Poses Less Risk to Others than Alcohol Press Release Findings from the first-ever study of marijuana’s secondhand harms show that fewer harms were attributed to someone else’s cannabis 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 … [Read more...]
Binge Drinking Rates Mediate the Effects of Alcohol Policies
State Binge Drinking Rates Mediate the Effects of Alcohol Policies and State Living Standards, a New Study on Alcohol’s Harms to Others Finds Emeryville, CA (August 13, 2020) – A new study looks at the interplay between state-level alcohol policies, binge-drinking rates, and socioeconomic status(SES) and their effect on harms caused by someone else’s drinking. The study from the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute, highlights the roles of two state-level … [Read more...]
