Binge Drinking Essay

High risk drinking is a health problem that contributes to significant health problems, is on the rise in the U.S. among both adolescents and adults, and takes a significant toll on the people’s well-being as well as the economy. Binge drinking in particular increased by 30 percent between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013, with the greatest increases among women, older adults, racial and ethnic minorities, and those with lower levels of education and income status (Grant, 2017).
Binge drinking is defined by the National Institutes for Health as “drinking that brings blood alcohol level to 0.08 g/dL, typically four drinks for women and five drinks for men in two hours,” though the Centers for Disease Control offer a more vague definition of four and five drinks, respectively, “during a single occasion” (Drinking Levels Defined, 2017), ("Alcohol Use and Your Health," 2016). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) further defines binge drinking, or heavy episodic drinking, as heavy alcohol consumption on five or more days in the past month ("Binge Drinking: Terminology and Patterns of Use," 2016).

The CDC lists the most common short-term health risks associated with drinking as injuries including motor vehicle accidents, falls, drownings and burns, violence including homicide, suicide, sexual assault and intimate partner violence, alcohol poisoning, and risky behavior such as unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, unintended pregnancies and STDs. Long-term risks include high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, certain cancers, learning and memory problems including dementia, and social problems including lost productivity, unemployment, alcohol dependence and alcoholism ("Alcohol Use and Your Health,"