It describes how this association has been approached, some research findings, and the kinds of problems these involve. Also discussed is what information is needed on the relationship between alcohol consumption, drinking habits, and alcohol-related problems. Many studies have shown that per capita alcohol consumption is an accurate indicator of the problems related to prolonged heavy alcohol use, such as liver cirrhosis mortality. Changes in total alcohol consumption are also often related to trends in the social consequences of drinking. One promising way of increasing knowledge of the relationship between drinking and alcohol-related problems is through detailed surveys. Information about the annual consumption of pure alcohol needs to be reinforced by indicators of drinking style. Measures used to describe alcohol-related consequences also need more standardizing. General population surveys are cumbersome tools and not well suited to describing temporal changes in the levels of adverse alcohol-related consequences. Time series analysis provides a promising approach to the examination of such trends. 12 references