Excessive alcohol consumption, including both
binge drinking and heavy average daily alcohol
consumption, is responsible for approximately
79,000 deaths per year in the U.S., making it the
third-leading cause of preventable death in the nation.1
Approximately 29% of adult drinkers (18 years) in
the U.S. report binge drinking (five or more drinks on
one or more occasions for men and four or more
drinks for women) in the past 30 days, as do 67% of
high school students who drink.2,3 The direct and
indirect costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 1998
were $184.6 billion.4 The reduction of excessive alcohol
consumption is thus a matter of major public health
and economic interest.