The Economic Cost of “Excessive” Drinking

A report from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine offers some astonishing figure about the cost of “excessive” alcohol consumption in the United States. The report, compiled in 2009/10, looks at 2006 figures and estimates the total cost to the U.S. economy in that year at $223.5 billion. On a per capita basis, that comes to “approximately $746 per person, most of which is attributable to binge drinking.” On a per drink basis, it comes to $1.90 for each alcoholic drink consumed.

Of course, the economic costs of drinking is only one aspect of the problem. As the report states: “Excessive alcohol consumption causes premature death (average of 79,000 deaths annually); increased disease and injury; property damage from fire and motor vehicle crashes; alcohol-related crime; and lost productivity.” Add to that the human misery that addiction brings.

The whole report is worth looking at — see it HERE