With the effects of the pandemic still being felt two years later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now researching the increasing rise of alcohol related deaths.
Last week, the CDC released their research on alcohol related deaths. Between 2020 and 2021, death caused by alcohol rose to nearly 30% in the U.S.
A recent AP News article broke down the CDC’s report which focused on “alcohol-induced” deaths, meaning deaths caused solely by drinking. Liver and pancreas failure due to alcohol, alcohol poisoning and withdrawal are a few examples.
Two decades before the pandemic, alcohol-induced deaths were only increasing by 6% or less each year. In 2020, it increased to 26%, meaning 13 deaths per 100,000 Americans.
The research also reported that people ages 55 to 64 have the highest alcohol-induced death rates and women ages 35 to 44 jumped to a 42% rate. Men are 2 and half times more likely to die of such deaths than women.
The Journal of the American Medical Association Network (JAMA) also released a report on their findings of deaths related to drinking like motor vehicle accidents, falls, suicides and diseases.
JAMA Network’s data recorded that from 2015 to 2019, all those alcohol-related deaths combined to 140,557 annually. Also, 1 in 8 alcohol related deaths were people ages 20 to 64 while 1 in 5 deaths were people 20 to 49 years old.
As of 2019, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics (NCDAS) has recorded that New Mexico has the highest alcohol related deaths with a rate of 34.3 deaths per 100,000 people while Hawaii has the lowest with 5.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
As for California, in 2019, the state was recorded to have had 12.2 deaths per 100,000 people.
In the same NCDAS report, American Indians and Alaskan Natives have the highest rates of alcohol related deaths 50.5 deaths per 100,00 people. White/Caucasians had the second highest with 11.1 deaths per 100,000 people.
Hispanic and latinos had a 10.6 death rate, African Americans at 7.5, Asian and Pacific Islanders 2.4.
All three reports not only show the increase of alcohol related deaths pre-pandemic, but a surge during and after the pandemic.
Whatever is causing the rise of excessive alcohol consumption has not been identified by either organization. Both the CDC and JAMA Network believe that increasing the tax on alcohol and putting a limit on how many alcoholic beverages, like beer and wine, a person can buy could help slow down these deaths.
If you or a loved one are dealing with alcoholism, please reach out to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) or call at 1-800-662-4357.