10,000 Drinks

Today marks 10,000 drinks. Right now, I would be starting in on alcoholic beverage number 10,000.

I quit drinking after the memorial for a good bar-buddy who was found dead in a heap at the bottom of his stairs. Pretty sobering stuff. If I count the number of drinks I would have consumed during the duration my continuing recovery, I’d be on track for 10,000 today. Very sobering stuff.

The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics features noteworthy drug abuse data, including overdose deaths, demographics, mental health, drug abuse treatment programs, and the cost to taxpayers.

According to Alcohol Abuse Statistics published by the Nation Center or Drug Abuse Statistics:

California taxpayers spent $35,011 billion as a result of excessive alcohol use in 2010; adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to $47.264 billion or $3.29 per drink in 2022.

Now, math is not my strong suit, but even I can figure I’ve saved California taxpayers $32,900. If I get out my calculator, I find that I saved myself $70k (just kidding  – I used a calculator for both). Not sure where the money went, but I am sure glad I quit!

Here are other sobering statistics:

• 106,000 persons in the U.S. died from drug-involved overdose in 2021, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH).
• Drug overdose deaths are up 30% year-over-year.
• 140,557 deaths in the US are the result of excessive alcohol use according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• 1-in-10 Americans over the age of 12 have Alcohol Use Disorder.
• 60% or over half of US adults over 21 increased their drinking during the pandemic.

Here are cool LifeRing statistics:

It's no surprise to LifeRing online meeting convenors that 60% of US adults increased drinking during the pandemic. It shows in the steep increase in number of participants. The focus meetings I convene doubled from 20 to an average of 55 members since it started on December 23, 2020.

LifeRing online meeting growth is astronomical!

LifeRing Zoom meeting growth and retention graphic and stats provided by Mark. Thanks, Mark!

Each bar color represents the month a person began attending LifeRing Online Zoom Meetings. The blue bars represent people who joined prior to July 2021.

• By the end of 2022, LifeRing supported approximately 1,700 unique Zoom online meeting members to manage substance use challenges.
• LifeRing started with about 700 unique online meeting participants before July 2021 [the blue base bars or “cohorts”]
• Net growth of unique online meeting members is about 2.5x in 18 months
• LifeRing has a 60% retention rate for online meeting members joining prior to July 2021 [indicated by blue cohorts]
• LifeRing online meetings are on pace to support 2,000 unique participants by the end of 2023Q1.

So? So LifeRing is helping reduce a lot of expenses to taxpayers all over the country! I recognize this is flawed logic, but I also recognize that LifeRing has helped me not take that first or that 10,000th drink.

How many drinks has LifeRing helped you decline?

Please help people like me break the chains of alcohol and drugs with your one-time or recurring donations.