A California alcohol industry watchdog has announced that alcohol problems cost the state $38.4 billion a year in deaths, injuries, health care costs, lost productivity and other social impacts, the San Francisco Chronicle reported July 23.

Releasing the summary of a study that will appear online in August in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the Marin Institute said its numbers are based on data from a variety of state sources on impacts from harmful drinking, defined for this study as the consumption of more than three drinks a day for men and more than 1.5 drinks a day for women.

Other findings of the report, entitled "The Annual Catastrophe of Alcohol in California," include a reported total of 9,439 lives lost every year from alcohol use. Also, the institute found that the cost to workplaces alone from alcohol problems is $25.3 billion, while annual sales revenues by the alcohol industry are $22.8 billion.

"People aren't surprised at the numbers because they're living it every day, but they’re still dramatic," said report co-author Michele Simon, the Marin Institute’s research and policy director.

Institute officials said that while alcohol does appear to have some possible health benefits for people at risk of heart disease, the detrimental effects of alcohol abuse overshadow any potential benefits. The full report will recommend increased funding to governments to prevent harms, as well as the imposition of higher alcohol taxes.