One of the most useful aspects of reviewing the available literature on drinking problems is that it highlights the difficulty of finding easy answers as to the question of whom, how, and why certain groups appear to suffer from drinking problems while others do not. For example, it is difficult to create a comparative study between whites and Native Americans, because while some Native American tribes do indeed have serious drinking issues, other tribes are virtual abstainers because of tribal prohibitions or the different location of their particular Indian nation. Both Asians and Latinos, depending on the specific region these nationally-based ethnic groups may hail from in their original locations also may manifest more or less of a drinking problem. Gender also plays a role, as nearly half of all Latinas abstain from alcohol, while Latino males tend to drink more. African-Americans may have a collectively higher rate of alcoholism if one takes this to be a singular group, and Black women are more likely to have drinking problems than their White counterparts. Also, one might ask-does African American include African immigrants, and would they have different drinking rates? What about Black Muslims, for whom drinking is theologically prohibited, and why use 'Whites' as the comparative group, as a comparison between Blacks and African Americans?
             It is the Irish, Caucasian ethnic group, probably because of cultural reasons, that has the highest rate of excessive drinking. Italy and France have high, but steady and moderate rates of alcoholic consumption. Asian Americans, with the caveat about generalizing across different Asian ethnicities, have in total, the lowest rate of alcoholism. All of these differences show how cultural factors impact the tendency of members of one group to consume more or less than others, combined with socioeconomic factors. Poverty, a late marriage rate, and cultural acceptance have fueled the in...