Ok so the article is from 2024 but seems to be referencing up to 2022. That’s quite a reporting delay. Also does anyone have access to the full article?
I guess the concerning part is that it’s sticking around longer than from other mass trauma events:
“People assumed this was caused by acute stress, like what we saw with 9/11 and Katrina, and typically it goes back to normal after these stressful events are over,” he added. “But that’s not what we’re seeing.”
I know I went from barely drinking to almost a bottle of wine a night. I had to make a lot of life changes to bring it back down, it was very bad.
"They" in this sentence denotes Americans collectively, not just Americans who drink. Although yes, in actual fact outside the world of grammar, it's only the alcohol-drinking Americans who are consuming more alcohol, the sentence doesn't break "Americans" into subgroups in the way that your sentence implies.