A hefty bar tab and splitting headache aren't the only costs of a night of binge drinking. A study published this month by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reveals that excessive alcohol consumption cost the United States $249 billion in 2010.
The journal's results indicate that:
Excessive drinking cost the U.S. $249.0 billion in 2010, or about $2.05 per drink. Government paid for $100.7 billion (40.4%) of these costs. Binge drinking accounted for $191.1 billion (76.7%) of costs; underage drinking $24.3 billion (9.7%) of costs; and drinking while pregnant $5.5 billion (2.2%) of costs. The median cost per state was $3.5 billion. Binge drinking was responsible for >70% of these costs in all states, and >40% of the binge drinking-related costs were paid by government.
According to the findings, the biggest economic loss from all this drinking was lost productivity. The category comprised $180 billion or 71.9% of total costs during the year. Examining the data further, it is seen that 'impaired productivity at work' was the biggest contributor with $76.8 billion in expenses. Productivity at home added another $6.2 billion while alcohol related absenteeism chipped in with $4.6 billion.
Healthcare was the second biggest spender with $28.3 billion which made up 11.4% of the spending. Sub categories under this branch include alcohol related specialty care ($12bn), Hospitalization ($5.9bn), and Ambulatory care ($1.5bn).
Some other notes from the study.
- The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines binge drinking as "drinking five or more drinks on one occasion for men or four or more drinks on one occasion for women."
- 77 percent Alchol related spending in 2010 came from Binge Drinking
- California had the nation's highest cost at $35 billion.
So the next time you think about downing a few cold ones, remember the billions of dollars you could be costing the government.
To see the entire report check out this link.
