For many of us our experience of the US-Mexico border is one of seemingly endless custom lines, traffic noise and congestion, and the long wait for an agent to review our documents. That's because most of us are just passing through, on our way to beaches in the south and back to our homes in the north. But what about the people who live on either side - how does the border that divides two countries, and all too often families as well, impact the people and communities that live within its … [Read more...]
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How much can you safely drink before driving?
Black and Hispanic drinkers are more likely to overestimate how much they can safely drink two hours before driving, a new and innovative study examining impairment limits found. The study, to be published on line ahead of print in the American Journal of Public Health, determined that, on average and controlling for other factors such as weight, education and drinking history, self-reported impairment thresholds (number of standard drinks one could drink in 2 hours before driving without being … [Read more...]
How big is your drink?
Most people know that drink sizes differ depending on where you purchase your drink and that they're not very consistent, in particular when you compare with how much you pour when at home. Since the size of drink determines how much alcohol you're consuming, knowing the amount of alcohol in a "standard drink", or what the British call a "unit of alcohol", as well as how to pour that amount of your usual beverage, is critical when trying to stay healthy and making sure you're not exceeding the … [Read more...]
How does your drinking measure up?
One way to look at your drinking habits is to compare your own consumption level to how much the rest of the nation is drinking. ARG Senior Scientist, Thomas K. Greenfield and Scientist, Yu Ye, took data from the 2010 National Alcohol Survey (NAS) consisting of 7,969 individuals residing in 50 states and Washington DC, and looked at the number of drinks both women and men said they consumed per week on average during the last 12 months. Take a minute to add up how much you usually drink in a … [Read more...]
What is Recovery?
The term ‘recovery’ is widely used in the research literature. Recovery is a goal of alcohol treatment, and recovery-oriented systems of care are being developed to support that goal. Alcoholics who no longer drink and are trying to pursue an improved way of living/being say that they are ‘in recovery.’ Yet for all its use, and seeming centrality, there is no agreed upon definition of the term within the alcohol literature. Lacking a definition, recovery usually is equated with abstinence or … [Read more...]
Study Looks at Impact of Privatization on Drinking Patterns in Washington State
Senior Scientist William C. Kerr (PI)'s project tracks implementation of regulations, revenues and prices and uses state-representative cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys of Washington drinkers and residents to evaluate changes in drinking, purchasing, problems, attitudes and experiences following privatization. The longitudinal survey follows drinkers who consume spirits to assess individual changes in purchasing practices and consumption behaviors. Kerr hopes that analyses will … [Read more...]
How much alcohol is in your drink?
According to a report from ARG researchers and published by the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association, people really aren't aware of how much alcohol they're drinking. This is in part due to beer and wine makers increasing the alcohol content of their products and because of new products entering the market with a higher alcohol percentage than ever seen before. It also doesn't help that beer and wine producers aren't required to label their product with the actual alcohol content. … [Read more...]
Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen (RAPS) Helps Clinicians Assess Patients
The Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen (RAPS) is a five-item instrument designed by Senior Scientist, Cheryl Cherpitel, to maximize sensitivity while maintaining strong specificity. Derived from other screens, and with no weighting, adding or scoring of responses, the RAPS provides a quick way for clinicians to determine who may have a drinking problem. This infographic provides some background information on its development, testing and the research involved. The test itself is available as … [Read more...]
Women at a Greater Risk for Injury than Men
A new study of emergency department patients in 18 countries led by ARG Senior Scientist, Cheryl Cherpitel, made available online by the scientific journal Addiction, shows that the risk of injury caused by acute alcohol consumption is higher for women compared with men. While the risk of injury is similar for both men and women up to three ‘standard’ drinks (containing 16 ml or 12.8 g of pure ethanol), the risk then increases more rapidly for women, becoming twice the risk to men around 15 … [Read more...]
NIAAA and NIDA Fund New Projects
This past fall several key projects were funded through the National Institutes on Alcohol and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). First up, William C. Kerr’s study that looks at the inter-relationship between life-course drinking patterns and health conditions. A four-year project, Kerr and colleagues will examine the effects of alcohol use over a lifetime, including social and economic hardships and racial and ethnic differences in factors that may contribute … [Read more...]
