April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a time to highlight the widespread impact alcohol has on individuals, families, and communities. While much of the conversation around alcohol use focuses on personal responsibility or addiction, there’s another critical piece we often overlook—how alcohol harms others.
From car crashes to rising emergency room visits, from productivity losses to taxpayer burdens, the consequences of excessive drinking extend far beyond the person holding the glass. This week, we’re shedding light on the broader social harms of alcohol—and how strong, evidence-based policies can help protect our communities.
Alcohol-Impaired Driving: A Tragic, Ongoing Threat
Driving under the influence continues to be one of the most visible and deadly effects of alcohol misuse. In 2022 alone, 13,524 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving traffic crashes in the U.S.—that’s an average of one death every 39 minutes (NHTSA, 2023).
Research shows that states with stronger alcohol policy safeguards—such as limiting when and where alcohol can be sold—have lower rates of alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths (Naimi et al., 2018). That means effective public policy can, quite literally, save lives.
Emergency Room Visits Are Climbing—Fast
Beyond crashes, alcohol use is sending more people to the emergency room than ever before. Between 2006 and 2014, alcohol-related ER visits rose by more than 60%, with the most significant increases seen in women and older adults (White et al., 2018).
Even more staggering: the costs associated with those visits rose by 272% during that time, from $4.1 billion to $15.3 billion. That’s an unsustainable drain on our healthcare system—and it affects every one of us, whether we drink or not.
A Stadium Full of Loss: 178,000 Annual Deaths
Alcohol remains one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. According to a 2024 report by the CDC, approximately 178,000 Americans die each year from excessive alcohol use—equivalent to filling the Rose Bowl Stadium nearly two times (Esser et al., 2024).
These deaths include liver disease, alcohol-related injuries, certain cancers, and complications from other chronic illnesses. And again, they are largely preventable through improved policy, education, and access to support services.
We’re All Paying for It—Literally
Excessive alcohol use costs the U.S. $249 billion each year, with a staggering 72% of that from lost workplace productivity (Sacks et al., 2015). Health care expenses make up another 11%, while criminal justice and traffic crash-related costs account for the rest.
Here’s the kicker: 40% of that bill is paid by government—which means it’s paid by all of us through taxes. That’s nearly $100 billion in public funds used to respond to alcohol-related problems that could be reduced or prevented.
Secondhand Harms from Alcohol Are Real
Just as we once learned about the dangers of secondhand smoke, researchers now recognize a similar phenomenon with alcohol: secondhand harms. These include being injured by someone else who has been drinking, experiencing property damage, being the victim of an alcohol-related assault, or dealing with emotional trauma.
A 2020 study found that people living in areas with government oversight of alcohol sales had 41% lower odds of experiencing physical harm from someone else’s drinking (Trangenstein et al., 2020). This is strong evidence that policy interventions can significantly reduce community-wide risk.
What Can We Do?
Raising awareness is only the beginning. Communities can reduce alcohol-related harms to others by:
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Supporting limits on alcohol outlet density and sales hours
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Advocating for increases in alcohol taxes
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Promoting awareness of secondhand harms and supporting survivors
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Encouraging data-driven prevention strategies
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Sharing these facts with others this April
It’s Time for Change
Alcohol may seem like a personal choice, but its consequences are public. Every person lost to a crash, every dollar spent on ER visits, every family impacted by someone else’s drinking—these are tragedies we can work together to prevent.
Let’s use Alcohol Awareness Month as a reminder: strong policies, education, and prevention matter. The #ProofIsInTheNumbers.
References
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Esser, M.B., Sherk, A., Liu, Y., & Naimi, T.S. (2024). Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 73(8), 154–161. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7308a1
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2023). Traffic Safety Facts 2021 Data: Summary of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813515
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Naimi, T.S., Xuan, Z., Sarda, V., Hadland, S.E., Lira, M.C., Swahn, M.H., Voas, R.B., & Heeren, T.C. (2018). Association of State Alcohol Policies With Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities Among US Adults. JAMA Internal Medicine, 178(7), 894–901. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1406
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Sacks, J.J., Gonzales, K.R., Bouchery, E.E., Tomedi, L.E., & Brewer, R.D. (2015). 2010 national and state costs of excessive alcohol consumption. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(5), e73–e79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.05.031
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Trangenstein, P.J., Subbaraman, M.S., Greenfield, T.K., Mulia, N., Kerr, W.C., & Karriker-Jaffe, K.J. (2020). Association between state-level alcohol availability and taxation policies on the prevalence of alcohol-related harms to persons other than the drinker in the USA, 2000–2015. Drug and Alcohol Review, 39(3), 255–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13041
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White, A.M., Slater, M.E., Ng, G., Hingson, R., & Breslow, R. (2018). Trends in alcohol-related emergency department visits in the United States: Results from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, 2006 to 2014. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 42(2), 352–359. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13559