Alcohol problems are common, preventable and treatable. Research has shown that fourteen million American adults suffer from alcohol abuse or alcoholism, and more than 100,000 people die from alcohol-related diseases and injuries each year. About a third of all adults in the US engage in some kind of risky drinking behavior, ranging from occasional to daily heavy drinking. Over the past few generations, patterns of alcohol consumption have changed in a disturbing manner: young people start drinking at increasingly earlier ages, the likelihood of alcohol dependence has risen in drinkers, and women’s drinking patterns and rates of dependence have become increasingly similar to men’s₁ .

National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) is April 10, 2003. This one-day event offers the first broad-scale, science-based education, screening and intervention program for alcohol problems. The program uses screening and brief intervention to empower Americans to reassess and change their drinking patterns to safeguard their health, and/or to get evaluation and treatment to prevent the progression of an alcohol problem.

Please visit www.mentalhealthscreening.org/locator/NASDmap.htm to find out about programs in your community.

¹Helping Patients With Alcohol Problems, A Health Practitioner’s Guide. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; 2003: 1. NIH Publication No. 03-3769.