Sobering Stats

Here's a fascinating and disturbing set of statistics: of the 20 metropolitan areas with the highest incidence of excessive drinking, 12 are in Wisconsin, 4 are in neighboring Minnesota and 2 are in adjacent Iowa. On the flip side, Tennessee leads in "dry" cities with 7, followed by Utah and West (by God) Virginia (!) with 4 each. Binge drinking is defined in the study as 4+ drinks for women and 5+ drinks for men in a single sitting; heavy drinking is defined as 8+ drinks/week for women and 15+ drinks/week for men.

The deadly outcome of the alcohol abuse ranges from automobile accidents and life-threatening diseases, not to mention broken lives and homes. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 88,000 lives per year are lost due to alcohol, costing the economy $249 billion.