Did you know that about 4.5 million American women abuse alcohol and about 3.5 million American women misuse prescription drugs?
Women and chemical dependency
- About 4.5 million American women abuse alcohol.
- About 3.5 million American women misuse prescription drugs.
- About 3.1 million regularly use illicit drugs.
- Approximately 40,000 women die of alcohol-related illnesses and injuries each year.
- Female alcoholics have death rates up to twice as high as male alcoholics.
- Women become more susceptible to the effects of alcohol as they age.
- Female alcoholics live 15 years less than women in the general population.
(Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)
Abuse in the workplace
- 19.4 million adults (18+) abuse or are dependent on alcohol or drugs
- 14.9 million full and part-time employees, regularly abuse or are dependent on alcohol or drugs
- More than 74 percent of substance abusers hold jobs
- The cost of alcohol and drug abuse to companies in the US totals more than $100 billion a year
Substance Abusers vs. Non-Abusing Coworkers are:
- 10 times more likely to miss work
- 3.6 times more likely to be involved in on-the-job accidents
- 5 times more likely to injure themselves or another in the process
- 5 times more likely to file a worker’s compensation claim