Socio and Economic Cost of Alcohol Abuse

Abstract

This paper focuses the socio and economic cost of alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse has an impact on health, health care resources, and the economy. Alcohol consumption can have both health and social consequences for the drinker. The harmful use of alcohol can also result in harm to other individuals, such as family members, friends, co-workers and strangers. Moreover, the harmful use of alcohol results in a significant health, social and economic burden on society at large. Social costs are the negative economic impact of alcohol consumption on the material welfare of society. When defining costs, a key distinction is made between direct and indirect costs.The task of estimating the social costs of substance abuse requires an accounting framework, and the choice of a framework is not a technical, scientific issue but rather a matter of political philosophy. This is surely one area where the numbers do not speak for themselves.