Bar patrons and party people may think they know the price of a good time, but a new study breaks down the large costs of binge drinking.
Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed the cost of excessive alcohol consumption in the United States was $223.5 billion in 2006, which translates to about $746 per U.S. resident on a per capita basis.
Nearly three-fourths of these costs are the result of binge drinking, defined as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks per occasion for women, or five or more drinks for men, the report said.
The remaining costs came from heavy drinking, which is consuming an average of more than one drink a day for women and an average of more than two drinks a day for men, and any drinking by pregnant women or those under the legal age.
The study showed 72 percent of the total cost of drinking resulted from lost workplace productivity, 11 percent came from health care expenses, 9 percent was related to law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses and 6 percent came from car crashes caused by drunk or impaired driving.
Michael Waldmeier, sociology senior, said he drinks about three nights a week, but personal alcohol costs don’t affect his budget.
“The high cost doesn’t surprise me,” Waldmeier said. “I’d actually think that it would be a lot