The costs of binge drinking on society
Time and again, even in this space, smokers are ripped in the media.
This ain’t the ‘50s and ‘60s. There are no more ads with heroes like Stan Musial and Mickey Mantle, imploring that “From my very first puff – man, it was Viceroys for me!” Now, smokers just hear how much of a drag they are on society, costing Canada about $11 billion in health care costs and lost productivity each year, by one estimate.
Let’s give smokers a breath though, shall we? A new report details not the societal costs of hacking butts but binge drinking, which smokers would love to tell you is just as bad.
And, according to a new report out of the U.S., the cost of each drink adds up quick.
By numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each excessive drink* is worth a tab of about $2 in health care costs and other expenses.
(*An excessive drink is classified here as any drink consumed when four, five or more are slurped on a given occasion.)
The CDC reports the costs of drinking cost society about $224 billion in 2006, the last year data was available, which worked out to about $1.90 per drink. Calculated costs, in addition to health care, included damage from car crashes, lost work productivity, expenditures for liver cirrhosis and money spent on incarcerating and prosecuting drunk drivers.
*Bing: What province pays most for cigarettes?
In Canada, to the best of this blog’s knowledge, such by-the-drink numbers have never been released. Recently, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) reported the economic burden of alcohol abuse costs each Canadian $463 per year.
“In fact,” CAMH says, “the direct health care costs for alcohol abuse in Canada exceed those of cancer.”
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: David Dickinson | Oct 21, 2021 8:04:36 PM
The Government of British Columbia licences, promotes, sells, and profits from this poisonous substance without adequately advising consumers of its medical and behavioural risks, despite being well-aware of these risks. Although the Provincial Crown is British Columbia's biggest drug dealer, it has yet to be held liable for damages in a class-action civil suit for all the car accidents, deaths and injuries, spousal assaults, fetal damage, brain damage, employee absenteeism, industrial accidents, and health complications suffered by ill-advised consumers who ingested government-approved alcohol products or who were harmed by someone else who ingested these dangerous substances.
Have you ever heard of a guy smoking a couple of cigarettes or a couple of joints then going psycho and beating up his wife, his best friend, or some stranger? (Like Cst Griffin Gillan did?) Have you ever heard of a teenage girl blacking out after smoking pot or tobacco and then getting raped? Alcohol causes violence and it's time for the victims to sue big time.
I don't have a problem with alcohol as a beverage. As long as you don't drink to the point of experiencing psychoactive effects, no harm is done to the nervous system or brain. But as a recreational drug, it sucks. Even moderate alcohol consumption over time causes brain damage: see 'Alcohol Intake and Cerebral Abnormalities on Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a Commmunity-Based Population of Middle-aged Adults,' Jingzhong Ding, PhD, et al, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and others, funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
The answer is not prohibition, it's education. Know what you're putting into your body.
Posted by: BIG BIRD | Oct 22, 2021 11:08:52 PM
Isnt ecstasy mda man I loved that stuff made me think i could fly!Man the societal costs of every thing these days what a draggggg just give me a hit of lsd 25 YEH!
Posted by: jose bleau | Oct 23, 2021 9:48:56 AM
And why doesn't CAMH explain how the refuse help to people with this problem? People with this problem are kicked to the curb and left there. That is why the costs are so high!!!!
Posted by: Heather | Oct 23, 2021 2:06:57 PM
I find that most people i have met that are smokers are also drinkers. And as far as the comment by Elmo to be valid and Oscar just dumb.
Personally I do not smoke, drink excessively and am not even close to the sad person Oscar describes but have seen first hand what Elmo refers to.For the record my eldest is well adjusted and taking her university masters but have i also experienced the other end of the spectrum.I have 4 kids, they are all different, youngest 16 and its a sign of the times, for better for worse and i think drugs and alchohol go hand in hand with teen smokers and they do have a sense of entitlement and do not take a lot of personal responsibility for their actions either, not all kids, but a vast majority for sure.
Now thats gonna cost a fortune no matter how you look at it.
Maybe someone should do a study on how many drunk drivers and drug abuse users are also smokers ? I would also wager a lot of young people in that lifestyle do not have an active supportive father in their lives. I firmly believe that as much as financial child support is essential the courts should also mandate that both parents are responsible to also be a practical and emotionally supportive parent if able .Walking away and sending a cheque is not being a parent.
Posted by: Heather C. | Oct 24, 2021 1:14:24 PM
"Lets face it,the human race just can't get it's shit together and probably never will."
Dale, if 2012 ever does happen, I would be more than happy to save the lives of good people like you. let all the others go and make a better, acceptable society where people know what it's like to love again!