Alcohol-related injury crashes cost the state economy $131 million a year, a new report by a University of Montana economist says.
Steve Seninger, with UM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said adding that total to a colleague's earlier estimate of the economic cost of alcohol abuse in the state brings the total to $642 million.
A 2009 report by Patrick Barkey said lost work productivity, alcohol treatment costs and health care costs of alcohol-related vehicle fatalities cost the state economy $511 million.
Seninger's report argues alcohol-related injury crashes should be included in the overall costs.
"We have to remember that these costs are the financial ones and do not include the toll on families and communities in psychological and human suffering," Seninger said. "Each year as a consequence of drinking and driving, children die, families are torn apart and people's lives are shattered."
Seninger's report is included in information being given to the Legislature's Law and Justice Interim Committee as it seeks to draft bills addressing the state's drunken driving rate. The committee is meeting Monday and Tuesday in Helena.
On Tuesday, Mike McGrath, chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court, plans to present information to the committee about a ballot measure that calls for using taxes collected on the sale of alcohol to fund drug courts, DUI courts and treatment efforts.
Members of the Montana Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Prevention then plan to submit the ballot measure to the secretary of state's office for review.