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Healthcare Costs
The financial drain on state infrastructure highlights the massive disparity in how these substances impact public funds.
£4.9B
Annual NHS burden
A&E admissions, ambulance call-outs, liver transplants, chronic oncology care
Minimal
Cannabis healthcare costs
Mostly indirect — mental health triage or smoking-related respiratory issues
Breakdown: Alcohol's NHS Impact
- •Leading risk factor for premature mortality and chronic disability among individuals aged 15-49 in England (Rousham et al., 2026)
- •Alcohol-related hospital admissions cost the NHS billions annually in emergency care alone
- •Liver transplants for alcohol-related liver disease represent a significant surgical expense
- •Cancer treatment for alcohol-related cancers (breast, liver, colorectal, esophageal)
£5B+
Workforce productivity loss
Absenteeism (calling in sick) and presenteeism (working hungover with severely reduced capacity)
Low
Cannabis productivity impact
Does not drive systemic, long-term chronic workplace absenteeism
Total Societal Economic Drain
£27B+
Alcohol (annual UK cost)
Healthcare + policing + criminal justice + lost economic output
~£0
Cannabis (direct cost)
Almost all financial cost is artificially created by policing prohibition
Sources: IPPR (2025/2026) economic impact reviews; Institute of Alcohol Studies; Rousham et al. (2026, Addiction); NHS Business Services Authority