The Cost Of The American Hangover: $249 Billion

By MARC TORRENCE (Patch National Staff)

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Excessive drinking cost the U.S. economy $249 billion, or $2.05 per drink, in the form of lost productivity, medical costs, crime and more, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

And that’s a conservative figure, going back to 2010, the last year the CDC examined for the study. Still, it’s a significant increase from 2006, when the CDC says hitting the bottle cost the economy $223.5 billion, or $1.90 per drink.

Acute causes included everything from motor-vehicle accidents firearm accidents to homicide and suicide. More findings from Michigan are found here.

“The increase in the costs of excessive drinking from 2006 to 2010 is concerning, particularly given the severe economic recession that occurred during these years,” Robert Brewer, head of the CDC’s Alcohol Program and one of the study’s authors, said in a press release.

“Effective prevention strategies can reduce excessive drinking and related costs in states and communities, but they are under used.”

Here were some other findings from the study:

• The CDC 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 of those 2010 costs were a result of binge drinking.
• Of the 50 states and D.C., California had the nation’s highest cost at $35 billion.
• North Dakota had the smallest with $488 million.
• Underage drinking cost the economy $24.3 billion.

Read the CDC release here and the full study here.

» Image via Ewan Munro/Flickr Commons