Culture

Study: Military Drinking a "Public Health Crisis"

Gee, what could possibly be causing our troops to drink more than they did in the '90s?

|

A new study says substance abuse among troops has become a "public health crisis" and Pentagon methods for dealing with it are outdated.

The study by the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, says about 20 percent of active duty service members reported they drank heavily in 2008, the last year for which data is available. And, binge-drinking rose to 47 percent in 2008 from 35 percent in 1998.