Rural Drinking the Focus of Alcohol Awareness Month

Substance-abuse prevention advocates are educating people about the dangers of underage drinking during this, Alcohol Awareness Month. In Iowa, that means a heavy emphasis on rural areas, where alcohol consumption is higher than it is in urban areas. Alcohol Awareness Month is organized by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence as a way of increasing outreach and education about the dangers of alcoholism and issues related to alcohol. The program was started in April 1987 focusing on college-aged students who might be drinking too much as they were away from home for the first time. Jennifer Husmann with the Iowa Area Substance Abuse Council says the number of alcohol-related deaths is still high 140,000 nationwide last year alone.

Alcohol-related deaths are up twenty-six percent over 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in large part do to the pandemic. In Iowa, Husmann says nearly 850 people died of alcohol-related causes in the latest count, and the council is holding workshops and town hall meetings to continue to educate people on the dangers of excessive drinking.

She says alcohol abuse remains especially serious in rural Iowa, where instances of intoxicated driving continue to climb, causing not only traffic-related fatalities but also health issues, which translate to higher taxpayer costs. She also says state laws have made alcohol easier to get.

Husmann says various treatment programs are coming together this month to not only help people struggling with alcohol abuse, but to reduce stigma often associated with alcoholism and addiction.