MORE than a fifth of people have experienced harm due to someone else’s drinking, a new study has found.
The US research claims 21 per cent of women and 23 per cent of men quizzed said they experienced some sort of harm in the past year because of someone around them consuming alcohol.
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The most common was threats or harassment, with 16 per cent reporting this as an issue.
Others included ruined property or vandalism, physical aggression, harms related to driving, or financial or family problems.
Women were more likely to report financial or family issues. Men told of ruined property, vandalism and physical aggression.
The authors of the study, printed in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, said more needs to be done to address the secondhand effects of drinking, similar to secondhand smoking.
They called it “a significant public health issue” with “considerable risk for women from heavy, often male, drinkers in the household and, for men, from drinkers outside their family”.
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The study looked at data from 8,750 respondents aged 18-plus.
Boston Medical Centre’s Timothy Naimi welcomed Ireland’s move to introduce minimum alcohol pricing.
Mr Naimi added: “The freedom to drink alcohol must be counter-balanced by the freedom from being afflicted by others’ drinking in ways manifested by homicide, alcohol-related sexual assault, car crashes, domestic abuse, lost household wages, and child neglect.”
