Alcohol and Substance Use Among U.S. Veterans

Megan S. Schuler, Aimee Bower, Carrie M. Farmer, Jessica Phillips, Rajeev Ramchand

Data VizPublished Nov 5, 2025

RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute

Alcohol and Substance Use Among U.S. Veterans

Substance Use Behaviors

One in five veterans reported binge drinking in the past month, and nearly one in six used marijuana in the past year. Post-9/11 veterans have consistently higher rates of substance use than pre-9/11 veterans.

 Past-month binge drinkingPast-year marijuana usePast-year opioid misusePast-year illicit drug use (not marijuana)
All veterans21.9%15.8%2.5%6.6%
Pre-9/1119.2%13.0%2.2%5.2%
Post-9/1129.8%23.6%3.1%10.7%

Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders

More than one in ten veterans had an alcohol use disorder in the past year, and nearly 7 percent had a drug use disorder.

  Past-year alcohol use disorder Past-year drug use disorder
All veterans11.3%6.8%
Pre-9/119.5%5.3%
Post-9/1116.6%11%

NOTE: Alcohol and drug use disorders were assessed in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

Alcohol or Drug Treatment

3.8% had any alcohol or drug treatment, suggesting a gap between need and access to care.

  • Pre-9/11: 3.4%
  • Post-9/11: 4.8%

National Survey on Drug Use and Health, pooled 2021-2023 data. NOTE: Post-9/11 refers to veterans who served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Pre-9/11 refers to veterans who served exclusively prior to 9/11.

This infographic describes work done in RAND Education and Labor and documented in A Summary of Veteran-Related Statistics: Second Edition, by Megan S. Schuler, Aimee Bower, Carrie M. Farmer, Jessica Phillips, and Rajeev Ramchand, RR-A1363-5-v2, 2025 (available at www.rand.org/t/RRA1363-5-v2). To view this infographic online, visit www.rand.org/t/IGA1363-4-v2. This infographic is an update to a prior RAND infographic (IG-A1363-4) to reflect more-recent national data.

© 2025 RAND Corporation

IG-A1363-4-v2

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Schuler, Megan S., Aimee Bower, Carrie M. Farmer, Jessica Phillips, and Rajeev Ramchand, Alcohol and Substance Use Among U.S. Veterans. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/infographics/IGA1363-4-v2.html.
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Funding for this publication was made possible by a generous gift from Daniel J. Epstein through the Epstein Family Foundation. The research was conducted by the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute within RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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Version Note

This publication supersedes a previous version published in 2023 (IG-A1363-4).