What are costs associated with binge drinking?
The beer, wine, and distilled spirits spend at least $4 billion each year ($11 million each day) on promotional activities, including advertising and sponsorships.9 Each year, college students spend about $5.5 billion on alcohol, mostly beer. This is more than they spend on books, soda, coffee, juice, and milk combined.10 While no precise estimates exist for costs to society associated strictly with binge drinking, estimates are available on the costs related to underage drinking. The annual overall costs of alcohol use by those under 21 is estimated at more than $58 billion dollars, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This estimate, based on current health and criminal justice data, assigns costs associated with violent crime, traffic crashes, treatment, and alcohol poisonings, among other variables.
