Alcohol: social harm
- Alcohol was estimated to cost Scotland £2.25 billion in 2006/07. Estimated costs for Scotland were: health service (£405 million); social work (£170 million); criminal justice and fire service (£385 million); wider economic costs (£820 million) and human costs (£470 million) (Scottish Government 2008)
- Chart 1 shows that recorded offences for drunkenness in Scotland have been falling in recent years. The number of offences of drunkenness recorded by the police fell from 8,358 to 6,702 between financial years 1998/99 and 2007/08 (Scottish Government 2007/08)
- There were an estimated 720 drunk driving accidents in Scotland in 2006, a decrease from 820 in 2002 (Scottish Government 2009)
- Chart 2 shows that in 2006, there were an estimated 980 drunk drive accident casualties compared with 1,270 in 2002.
- In 2006, approximately 1 in 10 deaths on Scotland's roads were caused by drunk driving: 30 people killed as a result of drunk driving in Scotland (total number of people who died in road accidents was 286) (Scottish Government 2009).
- In 2007/08, 73 people died in Scotland as a result of fire. The misuse of alcohol was a direct contributory factor in16 (28%) fatal fires and an indirect factor in a further8 (14%) (Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland Annual Report 2007/08).
- In 2005/06, 67% of assaults were reported to have been carried out by person(s) under the influence of alcohol (Scottish Government 2007
 399kB)
- Of the 148 people accused of homicide in 2007/08,33 (22%) were drunk and 21 (14%) were drunk and under the influence of drugs. A drink/drug status was not known for 42% of the accused (62 persons).
|
Click on the chart(s) below to view a full-sized detailed version in a new window
Chart 1
Chart 2
|
sites