The study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, breaks down this $20 billion into:
- $1.6 billion for the child protection system due to an adult carer’s drinking;
- $560 million for alcohol related domestic violence
- almost $3 billion in lost productivity due to people having to care for a drinker.
“This is the first study to also measure the cost to those impacted by others’ drinking through alcohol-related traffic accidents, crime, violence and aggression, family hardship, caring for drinkers and their dependents, and healthcare and social services,”
Overall, the amount expended on those impacted by drinkers and their drinking is equivalent to the same amount again for those who drink, bringing the total annual bill to about $40 billion. This forensic analysis, by La Trobe University researchers, reveals the cost of everything from alcohol-related violence, car accidents, child services, impacts on quality of life and damage to property.
Complete article https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2022/release/alcohol-bystanders-burden-revealed
(Dalgarno Institute comment: Our 160 plus years of challenging this outcome has seen such before – in fact our movement was really started as a result of these outcomes. Note to, it is the ‘legal’ drug that is causing these egregious harms. A protected and commercialized drug that has become completely engrained into the culture.
What is of even greater concern, is that pro-drug activists want to give the same carnage inducing ‘pass’ to currently illicit substances such as cannabis, cocaine, mushrooms, and crystal meth.
We know that high THC cannabis alone causes psychosis and all its accompanying chaos. The ‘Kincare’ industry in South East Queensland is ‘booming’ because of ‘Ice’ impact on parents ability to not just care for their kids, but shocking harms done to them.
The insanity of promoting ‘permission’ models for substance use cannot be overstated. It is time to #preventdontpromote and focus on the first priority pillar of the National Drug Strategy - #DemandReduction)
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