Test Your A.Q.

What do you know about alcohol?

The humorist Artemus Ward once said that ignorance isn't so much a lack of knowledge as it is knowing so many things that just aren't so.

Perhaps nowhere does this apply more than when it comes to alcohol-related issues. This questionnaire has been created for use in churches, schools and elsewhere to stimulate interest in alcohol-related issues and to correct some of the many myths and misunderstandings about alcohol use, drunk driving and the cost of such problems to society.

If we are ever to be successful in preventing such problems, we must begin with a clear understanding of the issues involved.

Begin by giving your response to the 13 questions in the A.Q. quiz and then check your answers. For best results, group leaders should allow time for a discussion following the quiz.

Around the world, per capita alcohol consumption has generally been on the decline among industrial nations, while on the increase in developing countries. According to the most recent data available, which nation registers the highest per capita consumption of absolute alcohol (from beer, wine and distilled spirits)?
Although drinking has been on the decline in the U.S. over the past several years, you won't find a major brewer, distiller or vintner in financial trouble. Booze is still big business in America. For example, retail sales in 2000 amounted to:
Based on the $2 billion advertising budget of the alcohol industry, it would be easy to conclude that most Americans drink alcoholic beverages either at home or in a variety of social occasions outside the home. But how many of those age 12 and older in the U.S. are actually "current drinkers," defined as having a drink in the month prior to being surveyed?
The largest religious total abstinence society can be found among what denomination?
Binge drinking, having five or more drinks on a single occasion, is considered a major problem in the U.S., whether it involves college students or adults. When a person is binging, what alcoholic beverage is most likely to be involved?
America's legal drinking age of 21 is the highest standard in the world. Most

European nations have a legal drinking age of either 16 or 18. There have been some who advocate lowering the U.S. standard to 18 to help reduce problems with underage alcohol use, particularly on college campuses. However, a recent national poll of adults found that only 15 percent approved of lowering the present legal drinking age. Further, only 27 percent of those polled thought it was okay for a person 17 years of age to ever consume alcohol, under any circumstances.

If that poll had included teenagers, the result would have been different. The Associated Press decided to find out how teenagers felt on this issue and commissioned ICS of Media, Pennsylvania to find out how today's teens felt about lowering the drinking age to 18 or 19. What percentage said they would support lowering the drinking age?
How many alcoholics and problem drinkers are there in the United States?
According to research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, children who begin drinking at age 13 face a 47 percent risk of becoming alcoholics or problem drinkers in later life. For each year the onset of drinking is delayed the likelihood of developing alcoholism is reduced by:
According to the 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the estimated economic cost of alcohol problems to the American society is:
The largest single cost of alcohol-related problems to American society is in the workplace. In 1998, lost productivity due to alcohol-related illnesses amounted to $87,622,000,000. According to the Workplace Alcohol Study, who is responsible for most on-the-job problems?
The Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) standard for driving under the influence of alcohol in most European nations is 0.05 percent. For most states in the U.S., the BAC standard is 0.08 percent. A 170-pound male could still consume how many standard drinks over a one-hour period and still register under 0.08 percent BAC?
In 2000, alcohol-related traffic deaths posted their first increase since 1995, rising by four percent over fatalities in 1999. Alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2000 amounted to:
By the time they are 12 years old, most of today's young people have had some experience with alcohol. For some, this is just a sip or two to find out what the stuff tastes like. But for others, alcohol use — even to the point of binge drinking — has already begun. With the highest legal drinking age in the world at 21, underage alcohol use has been a major problem for our society. What percentage of total alcohol sales do underage drinkers in the U.S. consume?

ANSWERS

d) Ireland posted a per capita consumption rate of 12.3 liters, compared to 10.5 for both France and Germany, 8.4 for the United Kingdom (Britain), 7.5 for Italy and 6.7 for the USA.
d) Americans' bar tab in 2000 was a whopping $122.2 billion. The other three figures listed represent what Americans spent in 2000 on wine ($18,120,000,000), distilled spirits ($37,317,000,000), and beer ($66,850,000,000).
c) According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse for 1999 and 2000, 104 million (47 percent) were current drinkers. The other 117 million either consumed alcohol very seldom or not at all.
c) Although Southern Baptists, Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists recommend abstinence for their membership, the world's largest religious total abstinence society is the Roman Catholic Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, based in Dublin, Ireland, with a worldwide membership of more than 500,000.
a) According to a recent survey by EDK Associates of New York City, 49 percent of beer drinkers admitted to having five or more beers a day in the preceding year, while this was true for only 34 percent of distilled spirits drinkers and 10 percent of wine drinkers.
c) To the surprise of pollsters, 68 percent of the teens surveyed said they supported keeping 21 as the legal drinking age, while another 16 percent wanted to raise the legal age to beyond 21.
b) According to the 10th Special Report to Congress on Alcohol and Health, there are 14 million problem drinkers and alcoholics in the United States. This means that the risk of those who consume alcohol on a regular basis of becoming either a problem drinker or an alcoholic is about one in seven.
b) For each year the onset of drinking is delayed, the chance of developing alcoholism is reduced by 14 percent, and the chance of becoming a problem drinker is reduced by eight percent.
c) is the correct answer. The amount in a) of $70,338,000,000 is the estimated cost of alcohol problems to the American society in 1985 and the amount in b) of $98,623,000,000 are the costs for 1990.
c) Surprisingly, researchers found that casual, social drinkers, not problem drinkers and alcoholics, are responsible proportionately for more workplace problems than their heavier drinking counterparts. The findings suggested that seemingly innocuous events such as an after-work trip to the bar or a family birthday party could add up to a significant drag on productivity.
a) A 170-pound male who consumed five standard drinks in a one-hour period would register a BAC of 0.10 percent, but that same person could consume four standard drinks on a one-hour period and still keep his BAC under 0.08 percent.
c) The 16,653 killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes represent 40 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year 2000. The figure listed in b) of 17,473 is for 1994, which represented 43.5 percent of all traffic fatalities, and the figure in a) of 22,084 is for 1990, representing 49.5 percent of all traffic fatalities for that year.
b) News organizations across the U.S. recently reported that underage drinkers consumed a quarter of all the alcohol sold in the U.S. This 25 percent figure came from "Teen Tipplers," a product of Columbia University's Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). But when challenged by the alcohol industry, CASA admitted that it had failed to take into account an over sampling of 12-20 year olds in the survey data on which the 25 percent figure was based. The 2000 Household Survey on Drug Abuse officials responsible for the government's Household Survey said the figure should be 11.4 percent. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) said regardless of the percentage, underage drinking is still a major public health problem.

MICAP RECAP, Page 3-4, July 15, 2004