Religion has a major effect on alcohol consumption it can be seen in the figure that proscribed avoidance of alcohol has a strong effect in the rate of consumption. There are obviously other social cultural effects in addition to religion that also contribute to the rate of consumption, but where there is a strong proscribed avoidance of alcohol the rate of drinking is much less.

Religion Relates to Drinking Behaviors, Especially Abstention

Data from the 2000 National Alcohol Survey pertaining to religious preference and proscription of alcohol were used in this study. Proscription was quantified by respondant's answers to questions about perceptions of teachings by there denomination about alcohol. Reference for odds ratio is no religious preference (includes atheists and agnostics(. Asterisk indicates statistical significance p < 0.01. (Constructed from data in Michalak, L et al, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 87:268-280, 2007)