The Costs of Alcohol Misuse

Abstract

Summary The misuse of alcohol imposes costs on society in a variety of ways. This paper presents a conservative estimate of the total resource cost of alcohol misuse in England and Wales concentrating on four major areas: the costs to industry and the National Health Service, material damage costs and the costs of criminal activity. It is estimated the social cost of alcohol misuse is in excess of £1500 million (1983 prices). Much research needs to be undertaken to improve the poor epidemiological bases on which these estimates depend.