Study Calculates High Cost of Heavy Drinking

October 24, 2011

Excessive alcohol consumption costs Americans $224 billion a year, according to a new study.

Excessive alcohol consumption in the United States costs Americans more than $200 billion a year, according to a new study.

That hefty bill includes the medical costs related to heavy drinking, plus the impact of alcohol abuse on law enforcement agencies and employers.

The researchers found the biggest contributor to the total costs of excessive alcohol use was a drop in workplace productivity, but the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Thomas R. Frieden, MD, told reporters that heavy drinking also contributes to a wide range of chronic health problems, including cirrhosis of the liver, "cancers, including liver, mouth, throat; high blood pressure; mental health problems; injuries, such as motor vehicle crashes, burns, and firearm injuries; violence, including child maltreatment, homicide, suicide, and domestic violence. All are substantially contributed to by unhealthy patterns of alcohol intake."

This study is limited to excessive drinking, which is defined in the CDC study as more than one alcoholic drink per day for women, more than two per day for men, and any drinking at all by pregnant women and underage youth. Other research has found light-to-moderate drinking can often have benefits.

CDC director Frieden says the price of heavy alcohol use averages out to just under $2 a drink.