Our goal
Reduce excessive alcohol-related harms through:
- Data-driven decision making.
- Increased awareness about the public health impact of excessive alcohol use.
- Improved collaboration between partners working on prevention.
Excessive Alcohol Use
What is Excessive Drinking? (CDC website)
Excessive alcohol use is an umbrella term that can encompass four types of drinking:
- Binge drinking
- Drinking 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women, or 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men.
- This amount is approximately the amount of alcohol that it takes to become intoxicated (approximately reaching a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or above) for the average person.
- Heavy drinking
- Consuming 8 or more drinks per week for women or 15 or more drinks per week for men.
- Underage drinking
- Any alcohol consumption by people under 21 years of age.
- Drinking by pregnant people
- Any alcohol consumption by people who are pregnant.
Moderate Drinking
Drinking less is better for health than drinking more. Moderate drinking is defined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 as, on days when alcohol is consumed:
- Limiting intake to 2 drinks or less in a day for men.
- Limiting intake to one drink or less in a day for women.
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Reports
- Health Watch No. 116: Binge drinking among Colorado adults: results from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
- CDPHE Health Watch No. 105: Alcohol and Suicide in Colorado, 2011-2015: Analyses from the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System.
- CDPHE Health Watch No. 109: Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention in Primary Care Settings in Colorado: Results from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor and Surveillance System.
- Substance Use among Women of Reproductive Age in Colorado.
Infographics
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Resources
- Alcohol Outlet Density StoryMap
A comprehensive resource for understanding alcohol outlet density measurements, including interactive maps of alcohol outlet density for the state of Colorado. - CDPHE Chronic Disease Data Dashboard (VISION)
Information about the prevalence of excessive drinking among adults (18+). Data from the Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is updated annually. - Healthy Kids Colorado Survey Interactive Dashboard
Information about youth alcohol use in Colorado and what factors support youth to make healthy choices. - Baby & You (formerly Health eMoms)
CDPHE webpage for data briefs and publications using available data from the Baby & You (formerly Health eMoms) survey of pregnant and postpartum people in Colorado. - Colorado State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW)
A network of state agencies and data experts brought together by the Attorney General’s office to examine the patterns, context, and impact of substance use in Colorado. The SEOW website includes links to Epidemiology Profiles for different substance use topics and topical briefs. Some suggested resources from the SEOW are:- Alcohol Outlet Density in Colorado infographic (SEOW Colorado website)
- Licensing & Zoning: Local Tools for Managing Alcohol Outlet Density in Colorado report (SEOW Colorado website)
- 2023 Epidemiological Profiles (SEOW Colorado website)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Alcohol and Public Health (website)
Youth Substance Use Prevention Resources from the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center
- Youth Substance Web-based Prevention Education Online Curriculum: Literature, Data and Policy Review (website)
- The Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center is a SAMHSA-funded Prevention Transfer Training Center (PTTC) that serves the Western region.
- The center provides additional information and resources related to the status of the public health policies and practices recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force for preventing alcohol-related harms.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
- Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent Problem (PDF)
Highlights interventions and actions to reduce alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and presents ideas for reviving public and policymaker attention, thereby turning concern into decisive action to address this tragic and preventable problem.
The Community Guide
- Excessive Alcohol Consumption (website)
- CPSTF Findings for Excessive Alcohol Consumption (website)
Summaries of the Community Preventive Services Task Force findings based on systematic reviews of peer-reviewed studies
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