Quantity and Frequency of Alcohol Use

The NSDUH Report:  Quantity and Frequency of Alcohol Use

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Highlights

• SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) examined the number of days, average number of drinks per day, and driving under the influence of alcohol among current drinkers.  Current drinking is defined as any alcohol in the past month.

•  In 2002, the current drinking rate for the total population aged 12 and older was 51%.   The current drinking rates by age group were as follows: 18% of those aged 12 to 17; 61% of those aged 18 to 25;  and 54% of those aged 26 and older.

• Whites drank on more days in the past month (9 days) than American Indians/Alaska Natives (7.3 days), Blacks (7.2 days), Hispanics (6.5 days) or Asians (5.5 days).  However, American Indians/Alaska Natives (5.9 drinks) and Hispanics (4 drinks) averaged more drinks per day of use than Whites (2.9 drinks) Blacks (2.9 drinks), or Asians (2.5 drinks). 

• While underaged persons were less likely to be current drinkers, those  underaged persons who were current drinkers averaged more drinks per day of use than adults aged 21 and older.  Young adults aged 18 to 25 who were current drinkers were more likely than any other age group to drive under the influence of alcohol in the past year.

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This Short Report,  The NSDUH Report:  Quantity and Frequency of Alcohol Use, is based on SAMHSA's  National Survey on Drug Use and Health, formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NHSDA/NSDUH) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.   The NHSDA/NSDUH also provides estimates for drug use by state.

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This page was last updated on March 16, 2006.