after the government's pledge to clamp down on binge drinking, it has been revealed that in the past 10 years there have been 350 alcohol-related deaths in Teignbridge.
There were also an estimated 300 violent crimes and 200 incidents of domestic violence which were attributable to alcohol.
Some 1,000 bed days a year were attributable to alcohol misuse, while there are more than 200 drink related admissions annually to hospitals in the district .
The figures were revealed by the director of public health, Jane Cowper, in her report to Wednesday's Teignbridge Primary Care Trust Board meeting in Bovey Tracey.
Her report on the government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England showed that drink misuse is estimated to cost the National Health Service £1.7 billion a year.
Crime and anti-social behaviour resulting from alcohol is put at a cost of £7.3 billion, an incredible 17 million work days are lost annually due to alcohol and the total annual costs to the British economy is thought to be a staggering £20 billion.
Dr John Whitehead said alcohol used to be a bit of a joke.
'The definition used to be whether you drank more than your doctor or not. That is no longer the case,' he said.
Dr Whitehead added that in Teignbridge, partnership work between the police, clubs, health and other organisations were needed to tackle the problem.
He pointed out that Alcoholics Anonymous offered the only secondary service in the district.
'We are way ahead in our drugs strategy and I would commend you to do the same with an alcohol strategy. The key would be finding the funding,' he admitted.
'The costs of alcohol abuse and misuse are enormous, reflected in liver diseases, crime, accidents, drowning, etc. You are paying for it, but it is hidden,' said Dr Whitehead.
The meeting heard that there should be efforts made to bring about a change in the well-established pattern of weekend binge drinking, particularly by young men.
In 2001 there were 267 licensed premises in the primary care trust's area representing nearly 25 per 10,000 population, and that compared to 20.5 in Devon and 20.8 in England and Wales.
The report to the committee continued that isolation faced by many people in rural areas increased the potential problems of alcohol dependency, particularly when many people also lived alone.
Work by health visitors had shown that two per cent of families had at least one parent abusing alcohol. Across the 27 wards in Teignbridge this ranged from nought per cent to five per cent, with the most deprived ward – Teignmouth West – having the highest figure. The number is likely to be higher, said Mrs Cowper's report.
Her recommendations, based on no additional funding being available, included: the launching of the strategy in 2004/05; develop and implement a training package on alcohol misuse; possible development of a specialist GP; encourage partnership between statutory and non-statutory agencies; and work with local education.