ATLANTA, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The cost of excessive U.S. alcohol consumption -- mostly binge drinking -- in 2006 reached $223.5 billion, or $746 per citizen, officials calculated.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta defined excessive alcohol consumption -- heavy drinking -- as consuming an average of more than one alcoholic beverage per day for women, and an average of more than two alcoholic beverages per day for men, and any drinking by pregnant women or underage youth.