While there is a substantial literature on the association of alcohol consumption and injury, less is known about the context in which drinking occurs within specific ethnic groups in the United States. This article analyzes drinking patterns, alcohol-related problems and drinking-in-the-event variables among a probability sample of 359 black, 528 Hispanic and 458 white patients who were breathalyzed and interviewed after admission to the emergency room. Injured patients among both Hispanics and whites were more likely to be positive on the breathalyzer and to report heavy drinking and more frequent drunkenness during the preceding year than their non-injured counterparts. Blacks were less likely than either Hispanics or whites to report a larger number of drinks prior to injury, feeling drunk at the time, or a causal association of alcohol and the injury event. These data suggest a differential role of alcohol in injury occurrence within ethnic groups, with alcohol possibly playing less of a role in the injury event for blacks than for Hispanics or whites. Tables, references