The risks of alcohol and other drug consumption to the user are well known, but many Americans--nearly 160 million--say they've been harmed by someone else's substance use, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. In a national survey of U.S.
adults, researchers found that 34% said they'd ever suffered "secondhand harm" from someone else's alcohol use--ranging from marriage and family problems to financial fall-out to being assaulted or injured in a drunk-driving accident. Meanwhile, 14% said they'd been harmed by someone else's use of marijuana, opioids or other drugs. In sheer numbers, that amounts to 113 million Americans who've suffered consequences from another person's drinking, and 46 million who've been hurt by others' drug use.
What's more, there was plenty of "overlap" between those two groups: Of survey respondents reporting secondhand harms from alcohol, 30% said they'd also been impacted by other people's drug use. There are more harms than people think. They affect families, relationships and communities.
" William Kerr, Ph.D., study co-author of the Alcohol Research Group at the Public Health Institute, in Emeryville, Calif.
It makes sense that risky drinking and drug use have far-reaching consequences, but it's only in recent years that research has delved into the secondhand harms of alcohol, Kerr said. And little has been known about the secondhand effects of drug use. The new findings are based on responses from 7,800 U.
S. adu.
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