The bar tab for alcohol use in the United States is a whopping $249 billion, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced. That’s how much excessive drinking costs the country in terms of lost productivity at work ($82 billion), early mortality ($75 billion), as well as health care, crime, and car accidents. Approximately $100 billion of the total is paid by taxpayers via Medicare, Medicaid, and the criminal-justice system.
Read it at The Washington Post
