Alcohol Abuse Costs Each Canadian $463 Per Year
In a newly released report, the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Addiction recommends 6 policy changes that they say could save 800 lives, and almost a billion dollars, each year.
Each and every of 30 million or so Canadians is billed an average of 463 dollars per year to pay for the societal costs of alcohol abuse.
In a just released study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, alcohol abuse is touted as more costly than even cancer, and costs Canadian taxpayers over 1 billion dollars per year.
The study, The avoidable Cost of Alcohol Abuse in Canada 2002, calls alcohol abuse one of the largest preventable expenses for the health care system, and they've come up with a number of proposal suggestions to reduce the economic burden. Six suggestions that they predict could save 800 Canadian lives, as well as free up 88 000 hospital bed/days, each year.
The suggestions include raising the drinking age to 21 from 19. Increasing taxes on alcohol and lowering the maximum permitted blood alcohol percentages for driving. Additionally, drivers under 21 would not be permitted to consume any alcohol prior to driving, alcohol servers (bartenders and waiters) would receive better education on interventions and doctors would be encouraged to step up routine screenings that would spot problem drinkers earlier.
Dr Jurgen Rehm, the Centre's senior scientist, claims that were government to follow their advice, taxpayers would save 230 million in Health care costs, 178 million in law and justice costs, and the economy would benefit from 561 million dollars in increased productivity.
More like this
Canadian First Nations People Are 5 Times More Likely to Die from Alcohol Use than General Population
Provincial health advisor, Dr. Evan Adams, calls for intervention from within the First Nations community.
Even Brain Damaged Alcoholics Can Expect Neural Recovery with Prolonged Sobriety
A study which proves that it is never too late to quit drinking shows that even severely brain damaged alcoholics (who suffer balance and walking problems from their neural deficits) will recover much balance and motor function in time.
20 Common Things People Realize When They Quit Drinking Alcohol
Of all the culturally conditioned behaviors we’ve mindlessly adopted, alcoholism is one of the most curious.
Alcohol Abstinence Reverses Brain Damage – But Treatment Must Be 2 Weeks or Longer to Take Advantage of Healing
Your brain heals quickly once you stop drinking and after a couple of weeks people start to see big improvements. Researchers say alcohol treatment needs to be at least this long to take advantage of this return of function.
Working 50+ Hours Per Month Raises Alcohol Abuse Risk Dramatically
People who work 50 or more hours per week are as much as three times more likely to develop a problem with alcohol as those who are unemployed.