How Does Addiction Spread in Almost Half of the American Homes?

Nearly half of American adults—46%—have suffered from substance abuse issues within their families, according to a comprehensive analysis of data from Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits poll.

The study reveals that 18% of respondents reported alcohol-related problems, 10% cited issues with drug abuse, and another 18% experienced both.

Troublesome Phenomenon

These findings highlight the pervasive nature of substance abuse across the United States, with 36% of Americans indicating that alcohol has caused trouble in their families, and 28% saying the same about drugs.

The survey’s lifetime measures asked participants if they had ever faced such problems, uncovering a surprising consistency across age groups when it comes to alcohol: roughly 35% of adults, regardless of age, have encountered drinking issues within their family.

However, the data shows a different trend for drug abuse. Younger adults, those under 55, are more likely to report family drug problems (31%) than those aged 55 and older (24%).

Additionally, women are slightly more likely than men to have dealt with drug-related issues in their families. Educational background also plays a role; adults without a college degree report higher rates of family alcohol problems (39%) compared to those with a degree (32%).

Religious participation appears to influence these trends as well, with individuals who rarely or never attend worship services reporting higher rates of both alcohol and drug problems in their families.

Regional differences emerge too, with residents of the Western United States more likely to report family issues with both alcohol and drugs than those in the East or South, though these regional variations are not statistically significant.

Gallup’s historical data on family alcohol problems, which dates back to 1947, shows a significant increase over the decades.

In 1947, only 15% of Americans reported such issues, a figure that rose to 22% in the 1970s and peaked at 36% in the late 1990s.

The current figure of 36% is among the highest recorded, although it's unclear whether this reflects a genuine increase in family alcohol problems, greater awareness, or a heightened willingness to report these issues.

Interestingly, the prevalence of drinking itself has remained relatively stable, with around 65% of Americans reporting alcohol consumption both in the 1940s and today.

The data on family drug problems, while more limited, shows a gradual rise since Gallup began tracking it in 1995.

Initially, about 18% of Americans reported family issues related to drug abuse, a figure that climbed slightly in the first decade before increasing further to an average of 28% in the latest 2018-2019 surveys.

Death Toll

In 2022, nearly a quarter of Americans aged 12 or older—about 70.3 million people—reported using illegal drugs, according to the latest survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Over half of Americans in this age group admitted to having used illicit drugs at some point in their lives.

The SAMHSA survey, which examines drug use patterns both in the past month and over a lifetime, sheds light on the prevalence of drug use across the country. Marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug, with 16.5% of respondents reporting recent use and nearly half—47%—admitting to using it at least once in their lifetime.

The survey also highlighted the use of other substances, including central nervous system stimulants and prescription psychotherapeutics, each of which accounted for just under 2% of reported use. Hallucinogens and cocaine were the next most commonly used drugs, with lifetime usage rates of 17% and 15%, respectively.

While illegal drugs pose a significant challenge, alcohol remains the most widely consumed substance in the United States.

Nearly half of those surveyed reported drinking alcohol in the past month, with 22% engaging in binge drinking. Tobacco uses also remains prevalent, with over 20% of Americans using tobacco in some form, and 17% specifically smoking cigarettes.

Harder drugs, though less commonly used, still present a serious concern. Less than 2% of Americans reported using cocaine in the past year, while even fewer admitted to using methamphetamines (1%) or heroin (0.3%).

The toll of drug use is reflected in the rising number of drug-related deaths. In 2022, preliminary data from the National Safety Council (NSC) recorded 108,490 drug-related deaths, a slight increase from 2021 and a staggering 141% increase over the past decade.

These figures include deaths from overdoses, suicides, homicides, and cases with undetermined causes. Opioid overdoses were the leading cause, with 92% of drug-related deaths classified as preventable overdoses. Even cannabis (marijuana) has been linked to preventable fatalities.

Substance abuse disorders are also widespread, affecting 38.7 million American adults in the most recent reporting year. Montana reported the highest rate of substance abuse at 19.2%, while Georgia had the lowest at 11.31%.

Alcohol abuse, which can manifest as binge drinking or alcohol use disorder (AUD), is another significant issue.

Binge drinking, defined by the CDC as consuming five drinks in one sitting for men and four for women, was reported by 21.7% of Americans in the past month.

AUD, a medical condition characterized by an inability to control alcohol consumption despite negative consequences, affected 10.8% of Americans over the past year.

The impact of alcohol is devastating: 178,000 Americans died from alcohol-related causes in 2021, translating to 488 deaths per day.

Of these, 117,000 were due to chronic conditions linked to long-term alcohol use, while 61,000 resulted from incidents such as car crashes, alcohol poisoning, or suicide.

Drug Overdoses

From 2011 to 2021, an estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to a drug overdose, according to a recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Over the course of that decade, the rate of children experiencing this devastating loss more than doubled, rising from about 27 to 63 children per 100,000.

While the highest number of affected children were those with non-Hispanic white parents, the study underscores the disproportionate impact on communities of color and tribal communities.

The study, led by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDAC), found that children with non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native parents consistently faced the highest rates of parental loss due to overdose.

By 2021, 187 out of every 100,000 children in this group had lost a parent, a rate more than double that of non-Hispanic white children (76.5 per 100,000) and non-Hispanic Black children (73 per 100,000).

Additionally, children of young non-Hispanic Black parents, aged 18 to 25, saw the sharpest annual increase in such losses, with rates climbing by roughly 24% each year.

The data also reveal a stark gender disparity: more children lost fathers than mothers to overdose during this period, with 192,459 children losing a father compared to 129,107 losing a mother.

Nora Volkow, M.D., director of NIDA, expressed deep concern over the findings, stating, " t is devastating to see that almost half of the people who died of a drug overdose had a child. No family should lose their loved one to an overdose, and each of these deaths represents a tragic loss that could have been prevented."

She emphasized the urgent need for better support systems to help parents access prevention, treatment, and recovery services, and highlighted the importance of providing care and support to children who endure the trauma of losing a parent to overdose.

Between 2011 and 2021, 649,599 people aged 18 to 64 died from drug overdoses in the United States.

Despite the scale of this tragedy, no national study had previously estimated how many children were left behind.

To address this gap, researchers analyzed data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted between 2010 and 2019.

These surveys provided insight into the number of children under 18 living with parents aged 18 to 64 who had used drugs in the past year.

Using this data and national mortality statistics from the CDC, the researchers estimated the number of children affected by the nearly 650,000 overdose deaths over the decade.

The findings reveal significant racial and ethnic disparities. Among the 321,566 children who lost a parent to overdose, the majority had parents aged 26 to 40 (175,355 children), and the largest group of affected children were those with non-Hispanic white parents (234,164). 

children (40,062) and non-Hispanic Black children (35,743) were also notably affected, with non-Hispanic Black children experiencing the highest year-to-year increase in loss rates.

These disparities align with broader trends in overdose deaths, which have disproportionately impacted non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native and Black communities in recent years.

The findings highlight the need for comprehensive responses to the overdose crisis that address the specific needs of these communities.