Home
Search
Sign up to receive Action Alerts and eNews  join button horiz                                         Stay Connected 

Fact Sheet: The Costs of Alcohol

 

Alcohol use costs the United States in every conceivable way.  Some calculable costs include lost productivity (crime victims and due to illness and premature deaths), property damage, social welfare administration, criminal justice system costs, and medical consequences.


National
•    Alcohol is the third leading cause of death in the United States.  1

•    Each year more than 100,000 Americans die of alcohol-related causes. 2

•    Problems resulting from alcohol use and abuse cost society almost $200 billion every year.

•    About 5,000 people under age 21 die annually from injuries caused by underage drinking. 3

•    Alcohol problems drain $185 billion from the US economy every year. 

•    The Healthcare costs alone from alcohol-related problems amount to more than $26 billion annually, or $686 per capita for every man, woman, and child living in the US. 4

California


•    Alcohol abuse cost California $17.8 in 2001 alone.  5

•    California citizens spent $7.3 billion dollars in 2005 on costs related to underage drinking. These included medical costs, work lost, and pain and suffering costs. 6

 

 

 

1 Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000, Ali H. Mokdad, PhD; James S. Marks, MD, MPH; Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc; Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, JAMA. 2004;291:1238-1245.

2 Alcoholism Fact Sheet -- the Mayo Clinic 
3 “The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 2007.”
4 Harwood, Henrick, "A Sound Investment: Identifying and Treating Alcohol Problems, Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems," The George Washing ton University Medical Center, April 2003.
5 The Cost of Alcohol Abuse in California: A Briefing Paper, The Institute for Social Change, Wendy Max, Ph.D., Friedner D. Wittman, Ph.D., Brad Stark, and Allyson West.  March 2004.
6 Miller, TR, Levy, DT, Spicer, RS, & Taylor, DM. (2006) Societal costs of underage drinking Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(4) 519-528.

 

 

 

TAKE ACTION

Don't mortgage the future.

Bring alcohol fees into the present & fund our kids at $500m a year.

TAKE ACTION
TO MODERNIZE CA
ALCOHOL TAXES



a martini glass, a beer glass, and a wine glass in front of a nickel
CA lawmakers want to:
♦ sell more alcohol at colleges
♦ market to underage students
♦ let the excise tax decay

TELL THEM THERE'S A BETTER WAY

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

*NEW* RUNAWAY RISE IN CA ALCOHOL LEGISLATION
Orange bars surround a spiraling picture of the inside of the California capitol dome, inside the orange bars it reads Circling the Barrel and A Report from Alcohol Justice
CIRCLING THE BARREL:
CA Alcohol Legislative Trends 2013-2022



Recent publications
OUR STORES, OUR FUTURE
Ending Unsafe Alcohol Retail Practices

IN THE DOGHOUSE

On a yellow-green background, a rat stands atop a weathered wooden bar trying to drink from a beer tap, next to a foamy sample glass

Big Alcohol Bids for Underage College Students, Cal State Willing to Sell

AB 840 is moving steadily through the legislature, with few aware of its true impact: to vastly increase the alcohol industry's ability to paste ads all over Cal State campuses, and reach its 180,000 underage students.

READ MORE...

LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

californiaCA Alcohol Legislation
All legislation related to alcohol policy in Sacramento. Includes analysis & position letters from AJ & CAPA.


Narcan Kit VsmallNEW!  CA Opioid Legislation
CA bills concerning opioid and overdose prevention, recovery, and treatment.



all bills from every state and federalNationwide Legislative Tracking
State-by-state and federal bills relevant to AJ projects/campaigns.




ADVOCACY TOOLS

Tax Calculator
              Legislative Activity
              Fact Sheets
              a dialogue bubble with an exclamation in it Online ABC Complaint Form