Drinking Costs Billions in Workplace Productivity

The cost of excessive alcohol consumption costs the U.S. roughly $223.5 billion a year or about $1.90 per drink, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

About three-quarters of these costs are related to binge drinking. That means consuming four or more alcoholic beverages per occasion for women and five or more per occasion for men.

CDC found that 72% of the total costs resulted from losses in workplace productivity. Also cited were health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11% 0f the costs), law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses (95), and motor vehicle crash costs from impaired driving (6%).

Overall, researchers calculated that excessive drinking costs $746 per person in the U.S.

The study was published in the American Journal for Preventive Medicine and is available at www.ajpmonline.org.

For strategies on preventing excessive drinking and other information: www.cdc.gov/Features/AlcoholConsumption/