Alcohol & Harm To Others
Alcohol problems don't just affect the individual drinker; they always impact on other people and wider society.The burden of social harm from drinking alcohol is substantial. Alcohol is recognised as a contributory factor in a wide range of social problems including anti-social behaviour, crime, violence, domestic violence, strained relationships, family breakdown, child abuse and child neglect. Alcohol misuse is estimated to cost Scotland £97 million per year in social work services and £277 million per year in criminal justice services, including policing. In addition, alcohol is estimated to cost Scotland £418 million per year in reduced output and productivity, including work days lost due to alcohol-related absenteeism.
Just as passive smoking damages others, passive drinking is inflicting untold damage on children whose mothers drink while pregnant, or whose parents drink too much, as well as the 7,000 victims of drink drivers and thousands of alcohol-related sexual assaults per year.
The Range and Magnitude of Alcohol's Harm to Others This research from Australia gives an insight into how an individual's drinking impacts on the people around them. For the first time internationally, the research examined how a person's drinking affects their family, co-workers, friends and strangers, to demonstrate how one person's alcohol misuse can impact on entire communities.