This paper presents national estimates of alcohol consumption and DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States. Fifty-two percent of the adults surveyed were classified as current drinkers and nearly 9.0% met criteria for DSM-IV alcohol abuse or dependence. Greater percentages of males and whites were classified as current drinkers and as alcohol abusers or dependent, compared with females and non-whites, respectively. There is a need for future epidemiological research to collect better data on drinking patterns as an aid to interpreting socio-demographic differentials and to estimate more precisely the association between alcohol consumption and abuse and dependence in multivariate statistical environments. The critical need to examine the unprecedented reversal of the abuse-to-dependence ratio resulting from the application of the DSM-IV classification is emphasized. The role of future longitudinal alcohol epidemiological research in elucidating the initiation and maintenance of consumption patterns and alcohol use disorders is stressed.