KNOW

ALCOHOL

People

Alcohol use impacts everyone. How does it impact you and those around you?

Men

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  • Compared to women, men tend to drink more alcohol, take more risks when drinking (i.e., mix alcohol with drugs, drive while intoxicated), and are more likely to binge drink, develop an alcohol use disorder, and commit alcohol-related violence.
  • Men account for approximately 75% of alcohol-caused deaths in Canada.
  • Men cause most second-hand harms from alcohol (i.e., harms on persons other than the drinker).

Women

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  • Compared to men, women face greater health risks (e.g., liver damage, cancer) at any level of alcohol use, but especially above 6 standard drinks per week. This is because females tend to weigh less and metabolize alcohol slower than males.
  • Compared to men, women experience more second-hand harms from alcohol, including sexual assault and interpersonal violence.

Curious to know your health risks from alcohol? Use our calculator to find out.

Youth (ages 15-24)

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  • Compared to adults, youth face a greater risk of harm from drinking, even at the same level of alcohol use, and particularly from binge drinking. This is because youth get intoxicated faster, are generally more impulsive and emotionally immature, and have less experience with tasks that are dangerous while intoxicated (e.g., driving or swimming).
  • Youth consume most of their alcohol through binge drinking. This drinking pattern increases the risk of injury, aggression, dating violence, school problems, and unplanned pregnancies.
  • Youth should delay alcohol use for as long as possible. This is because the earlier you start drinking, the higher your risk of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems later in adulthood.

Do you have people between the ages of 15 to 24 in your life? Discussing alcohol with them is advisable, but serving them alcohol is not.

How you model alcohol use is more important than what you say about it. Your behaviour around alcohol is the biggest influence on whether or how young people in your life drink.

Marginalized Peoples

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Alcohol use and its effects on marginalized groups, such as Indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, and the elderly, remain under-researched. Indigenous communities in particular experience disproportionately high rates of alcohol use and related harms, stemming in part from the historical impacts of colonization, state violence, and intergenerational trauma.

As new research emerges, it will be important to reassess and address the impact of alcohol use on these groups and to engage with Indigenous communities to promote and strengthen culturally appropriate approaches to healing and wellness. 

Canadians

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Did you know? Alcohol accounts for the most substance-use-related economic costs and harms in Canada, more than tobacco, opioids, or cannabis.

In Canada, alcohol is responsible for:

  • 17,000 deaths each year. This is more than the number of people who die from opioid overdoses
  • 500,000 hospital visits each year
  • $19 billion in taxpayer money each year (or about 30 cents per drink), in the form of:
  • Healthcare costs (e.g., paramedic services, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, treatments)
  • Criminal justice costs (e.g., police, court, and correctional services)
  • Lost productivity costs (e.g., absenteeism, short- and long-term disability, premature deaths)
  • Other costs (e.g., property damage)

People who have an alcohol use disorder aren’t solely responsible for these costs and harms; moderate drinkers also contribute significantly to these, especially through binge drinking.

Alcohol use is also the leading cause of serious road collisions and kills and injures more Canadians than any other crime.

Many Canadians also experience harms from their own or someone else’s alcohol use. What’s your experience?

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