Report sharp drop in heavy drinking
Atlanta (AP) - 11/89

America's taste for the hard stuff has plummeted to its lowest level in 3 decades.

The national CDC reported Friday that per-capita consumption of distilled spirits in 1986 was 0.85 gallons, the lowest since 1959, when it was 0.84 gallons.

"The decline in spirits consumption may represent changes in the drinking patterns and preferences in the drinking-aged population," the CDC said in its weekly report.

"These changes were reflected by greater interest in beverages with reduced alcohol content (light beers and wine coolers), as well as increased public awareness regarding physical fitness, nutrition and alcohol abuse.“

Complete statistics were available through 1986. Preliminary statistics indicate the decline continued in 1987, to 0.83 gallons, said researcher Darryl Bertolucci of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

The CDC said the drop in consumption of distilled spirits between 1985 and 1986 was the sharpest since 1956, as measured in both actual cases sold and the percentage of the decrease. But the exact statistics behind those conclusions were unavailable Friday.

In the United States, the CDC said, per-capita consumption of ethanol-the actual alcohol in alcoholic beverages-was 2.58 gallons from all beverages in 1986, the lowest-since 2.64 gallons in 1977.

Two of 3 American adults drink, but a relatively small number of them account for most of the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The CDC said 10% of drinkers, or just 6.5% of the U.S. adult population, account for half of all the alcohol consumed in the nation.

Public health officials defined heavy drinking as an average of one ounce or more of ethanol each day - about two beers, cocktails or glasses of wine. Such drinkers, the CDC said, run a seven-times greater risk of liver cirrhosis than occasional alcohol drinkers.

The CDC said at least 46% of the cirrhosis deaths among U.S. men and at least 15% of cirrhosis deaths among women are attributable to heavy drinking.

The agency reported Friday that 26,151 Americans died of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in 1986; 42% of those deaths were associated with alcohol.

High rates of death from chronic liver disease were scattered across the country, topped by 31 such deaths per 100,000 residents in Washington, D.C. Lowest was Arkansas, with six deaths per 100,000 people.

In another 13,475 deaths, the CDC said, chronic liver disease was a "contributing cause.