ALCOHOL LIMITS ABSENT AMID OVERDOSE
CRISIS:
New federal data shows that alcohol deaths have been climbing
steadily over time, but the policy tools that health agency officials have
raised to address excessive drinking are
controversial.
According to
new data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, deaths
from over-drinking have
doubled in almost two decades, from 35,914 in 1999 to 72,558 in
2017.
This means
that deaths
from alcohol are even
higher than deaths from opioids, which totalled 49,060 in 2017.
And the data doesn’t account for other downsides of over-drinking, including
being violent while under the influence, giving birth to babies with fetal alcohol
syndrome, or the productivity costs of alcoholism.
But while
Congress and the Trump administration have worked on ideas to reduce deaths
from prescription drugs, heroin, and fentanyl, they have been notably silent
about alcohol. They may be reluctant to propose limitations on alcohol because
it’s far more likely to spur a backlash than doing so for other drugs would.
Tobacco-style limitations,
such as restrictions on where and when alcohol is sold, taxes, or bans on
certain types of marketing, get
met with accusations of Prohibition-era methods, as they would
affect people who drink only moderately and would potentially fail to address
alcoholism altogether. The alcohol industry has instead supported policies to
strengthen law enforcement and education, as well as targeted approaches aimed
at people who have a dependency on alcohol.
But in
recent years public health agencies, including
the World Health Organization, have been far more vocal about
calling for limits on alcohol. Under President Trump, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention recommended limiting hours and locations for
alcohol sales. The surgeon general under Barack Obama issued
a report that recommended reducing problem drinking in states
through restrictions, which, like the Trump administration guidelines, would
also hit people who only drink occasionally. The CDC during Obama's tenure also issued
controversial guidance saying women of childbearing age
shouldn’t drink alcohol unless they are also on birth control.
States don’t
appear to be heading in the direction the CDC recommended. Even as deaths have
climbed, states have largely moved to make alcohol more available in what many
see as a more modernized approach to drinking. A quick look at recent state
laws shows that more states are allowing alcohol to be sold on Sundays, or in
grocery stores, or earlier in the day.
Plus, there
isn’t all bad news on the drinking front. For example, underage drinking,
including college binge drinking, is at
record lows, and drunken driving deaths account for 29% of overall
driving deaths, the
lowest percentage since 1982.
We’ll be
watching the rhetoric on this, particularly after the CDC releases its annual
figures on life expectancy sometime in the next month. In recent years,
excessive drinking has shown itself to be one of the big contributors to people
dying younger.
Good
morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This
newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and
healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You
can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at dailyonhealthcare@washingtonexaminer.com. If
someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you
can subscribe here.
No comments:
Post a Comment