Sober Living by the Sea Blog

The below blog about the costs of alcohol to residents of California is brought to you by Sober Living by the Sea Treatment Centers located in Newport Beach, California. We have been treating alcoholic men and women to help overcome their addiction and understand the underlying issues that lead to their chemical dependency for over twenty three years. We have gender specific drug treatment programs for men and treatment programs for women.

At a time when Budweiser is in the news for being purchased by Belgian brewer InBev, another interesting news item about alcohol caught my eye today. The below report will inevitably be used to attack "Big Alcohol" so that companies like InBev will be responsible for more of the devastating effects of their products.

The Annual Catastrophe of Alcohol in California

A New study funded by the Marin Institute, the alcohol industry watchdog
outlines the cost of alcohol use to the state of California to be $38.4 billion annually or $1,200 per second. That's a cost to every resident of roughly $1,000 annually. The costs come in the form of crime, traffic DUI costs, illness, and injury.

The study also estimates an additional $48.8 billion in quality of life costs, due to the pain and suffering of victims and families

Marin Institute compared the economic losses to those from natural disasters and concluded that alcohol costs far outpace earthquakes and fires. Per the Marin Institute: "Unlike earthquakes, fires, floods and mudslides, which come along infrequently, the catastrophe of alcohol in California happens annually, with devastating effects, and can be prevented."

The Marin Institute's study will calling for a number of steps to reverse the catastrophe, including higher alcohol taxes to reduce excessive consumption and the related harm and costs.

Labels: alcohol costs, alcohol taxes, big alcohol, budweiser, california, DUI, inbev, marin institute