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Abstaining from alcohol can have immediate benefits. But lasting gains require lasting change. If the bars look a bit emptier this month, it may be because more people are trading happy hour for Dry January. The tradition, in which people abstain from alcohol for the entire month, is growing in popularity. In 2022, nearly one in…

As Christmas, New Year’s, and all the December holidays approach, for many Americans this is one of the year’s most festive and joyous times of the year. However, it can also be challenging for many people and families. Addiction, relapse, stress, anxiety and depression are all prominent this time of year. The stress of the…

It shouldn’t be too controversial to say that people in the U.S. really, really love beer. As the dominant alcoholic beverage in this country, beer has been remarkably resilient, consistently beating out spirits and wine for the last 120 years and holding on to over 50% of American alcohol consumption until as recently as 2013,…

Sober October, Dry January and Dry July: For one quarter of a year, these campaigns provide a motivation for people to come together and challenge themselves to go without alcohol. It isn’t a surprise to Annie Grace that these periods to reduce alcohol consumption are becoming more popular. The author of “This Naked Mind: Control…

If boxing icon Floyd Mayweather fights again, maybe Jeff Umali will place a bet. And maybe when a huge sporting event, such as the Super Bowl, rolls around, the 39-year-old will wager a few bucks. But that’s it. “I’ve learned my lesson,” he said. Umali’s lesson came a few years ago, when he started placing…

The COVID-19 pandemic may have another significant public-health ripple effect in terms of increased alcoholic consumption, according to a Triangle-based nonprofit research institute. A study published recently in the journal Addiction by RTI International estimates that a one-year increase in alcohol consumption during the pandemic will have a significant impact on health outcomes and hospitalization…

SAN DIEGO — Ask just about anyone for their thoughts on what causes homelessness, and you will likely hear drug addiction, mental illness, alcoholism and poverty. A pair of researchers, however, looked at those issues across the country and found they occur everywhere. What does vary greatly around the country, they found, was the availability of affordable…

A diversion program in Los Angeles designed to keep mentally ill, addicted or homeless adults out of jail and instead provide treatment and housing is having little success, according to statistics provided by police officials. The problem? Little interest. Nearly three-quarters of the 283 people deemed eligible for the Alternatives to Incarceration Diversion Program since…

OAKLAND —  Dr. Andrew Herring has a clear goal walking into every appointment with patients seeking medication to treat an opioid use disorder: persuade them to get an injection of extended-release buprenorphine. At his addiction clinic at Highland Hospital, a bustling public facility in the heart of Oakland, Herring promotes administering a shot of buprenorphine in…

With millions of cases of a new and relentless virus, hundreds of thousands of deaths and the wait for a vaccine, for many, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States brought unimaginable pain, fear and frustration. Some people turned to alcohol to cope. Sales of alcoholic beverages spiked, so naturally alcohol…