The opioid epidemic has been making headlines in the U.S., but another public health crisis is also in the making, this time involving alcohol, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry.¹ In the time period spanning 2001-2002 to 2012-2013, 30 percent more Americans engaged in high-risk drinking. The study included data from nearly 80,000 Americans and found statistically significant increases in alcohol use across all sociodemographic groups.

However, increases in alcohol use, high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD) (or alcohol dependence) were greatest among women, older adults, racial/ethnic minorities and people with lower educational level and family income. The increase “constitute[s] a public health crisis,” the researchers said. “Taken together, these findings portend increases in many chronic comorbidities in which alcohol use has a substantial role.”²

1 in 8 Americans May Struggle With Alcoholism

The greatest increases occurred among heavy alcohol users; the number of people diagnosed with alcoholism increased by 49 percent during the study period and is estimated to affect nearly 13 percent of Americans.³

Study author Bridget Grant of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism told International Business Times UK, “The increases were unprecedented relative to the past two decades … [and] may have been overshadowed by increases in less prevalent drugs like marijuana and opioids, although all increases in alcohol and other substances are important.”⁴

Overall, the number of people who reported drinking alcohol (in any amount) shot up from 65 percent to nearly 73 percent of Americans. About one-third of them engage in “high-risk drinking,” which was defined as five or more standard drinks for men or four or more drinks for women at least once a week. Among women, however, this type of binge drinking increased by nearly 58 percent over the study period.⁵

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