Americans Are Drinking More — A Lot More

[Purveyor]

Source: NBC News

Heavy drinking is on the rise in many parts of the U.S. — up more than 17 percent since 2005, researchers reported Thursday. And rates are rising faster among women than among men.

But there's a big difference county by county, the statistics show. In some counties, more than a third of the residents are binge drinkers and more than 20 percent are heavy drinkers. The hardest-drinking U.S. county? Menominee County, Wisconsin.

Heavy drinkers are setting themselves up for liver disease and many forms of cancer, while binge drinkers can see not only health effects but damage to their jobs, marriages and friendships — not to mention the risk of vehicle accidents.

"In 2012, 8.2 percent of all Americans were considered heavy drinkers and 18.3 percent were binge drinkers," the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says in a statement.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/americans-are-drinking-more-lot-more-n347126

[rurallib]

1. seems like alcohol has always been the go to drug in tough times

[GusBob]

2. I think menominee county is an Indian reservation

IIRC the population is like 5,000 people

[Jackpine Radical]

5. You're right.

Well, I think maybe not technically. I believe they converted what had been a Menomonie Indian reservation into a county.

[LynneSin]

3. Yeah sign me up for that - 3 pints of Dogfish Head Brown Ale tonight

Yummy

[onehandle]

7. Oh yeah? I had 4 Bud Light Lime-A-Ritas®!

Wait... You know me better than that.

[LynneSin]

8. If that's what you are drinking are you sure you are a democrat?

[katmille]

11. Just curious

What is the point of "light" beer?

[DJ13]

12. You drink it so

... you dont pass out in the dark?

[babylonsister]

15. Dammit, now you tell me! nt

[RKP5637]

26. ...

[BobTheSubgenius]

20. It's for the times when you want to urinate,

but without the annoying buzz.

[Nihil]

31. Or if you want to urinate ...

... and make a profit out of it ...

[Maeve]

33. My husband calls it canoe beer

Drinking it is like having sex in a canoe--it's f***ing close to water!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

34. 1. Less calories, 2. less alcohol. So the answer could be 1, 2, or both.

[Binkie The Clown]

4. I made an amazing discovery when I was a teen.

A bunch of us went on a camping trip and made the amazing discovery that there is such a thing as too much beer. I woke up the next morning face down in the dirt a few steps from the lake. I kinda lost interest in booze after that. I'm not anti-drinking, I'm just indifferent to it.

[workinclasszero]

6. If pot was legal...

But of course it isn't most places.

[a kennedy]

10. D*mn right.....stoned now baby......

Can we get a "stoned" smilie please???



hope this shows up like the picture I wanted.

[workinclasszero]

14. Can't believe in 2015

That a harmless plant with magical medical properties is still illegal while killer alcohol and cigarettes are still sold in every gas station and store in america.

[RKP5637]

28. Often US=United Stupidity! At least among the critters that make these laws. n/t

[Triana]

32. +1 n/t

[mountain grammy]

37. +1000

[Doctor_J]

45. That is because PHARMA is getting rich from prohibition. If pot was legal, the demand for

oxy would plummet and, and the drug lobby would go on the warpath.

[Electric Monk]

17. It resized nicely for use as an avatar

[a kennedy]

18. Ooooooo love it.

[a kennedy]

42. Oh my.....love it.....

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

35. This is the closest we have.

He looks pretty happy and laid back. Sunglasses so you can't see the puffy red eyelids and the bloodshot eyes.

[shanti]

44. it's right here

[Politicalboi]

9. Take their commercials off TV

They want to do away with e-cigarette commercials, why not booze commercials. The booze companies are selling to kids too. Been doing it for decades, but somehow it goes unnoticed.

[former9thward]

39. You are a prohibitionist for stuff you don't like

but stuff you do like you want legalized. Way to make friends.

[Jack-o-Lantern]

13. Thank God for good safe alcohol or people might start using the “killer” weed.

[McKim]

16. Anasethetics on the Rise to Escape an Ugly World

Here in Portland Oregon beer, cocktails and pot are like gods. Every week there is another drinking or pot festival. There are huge reviews of bars and breweries and articles about the wonders of different kinds of pot. This, along with sports worship and popular culture and music are huge distractions for young people to escape from a world that is increasingly dominated by war, greed and limited opportunities for all.

I sound like a really old lady when I say that these young people obessed with these anesthetics, or "opiates of the people", are not going to make any political waves or changes when they are all doped up and distracted. I suspect that young people feel very hopeless and powerless and to me they seem rather politically passive compared to the youth of the 1960s. Pot and booze is a diversion from political responsibility. I see this as a dangerous trend that feeds apathy. Perhaps this is engineered as part of The Great Dumbing Down of our society.

I wish young people all the luck and appreciate every one of you who is active on Peace and the Environment, but so many are just
dumbed down and doped up. I worry about our future. Kids don't realize that they really have power and can use it, with the internet
you can go far. Go for it.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

36. There is no correlation between pot smoking and social, or political involvement.

I've smoked daily for 44 years and I am radically involved in politics and preventing the destruction of the middle class, the climate, and everything else the fascists want to get their dirty claws on. I vote and I donate to my favored politicos. I know a lot of non-smokers that drink and are not interested one hoot in politics, or just about anything else.

[mountain grammy]

38. Thanks, good answer.

[Jesus Malverde]

19. Beyond booze...

Americans consume EIGHTY percent of the world's pain pills as prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142481/Americans-consume-80-percent-worlds-pain-pills-prescription-drug-abuse-epidemic-explodes.html

And in 2010 in the US alone, prescribed painkillers were involved in over 16,000 deaths.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/278509.php

25% of American women aged 40-50 are "mentally ill" and taking anti-depressants.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/a-glut-of-antidepressants/

[Historic NY]

21. Thankfully its isn't all moonshine...

and one can't blame Obama for it either....people tend to turn to getting medicated to forget.

[RKP5637]

29. We're riding along in a sinking ship for most people IMO. n/t

[Stryst]

22. And of course since there are no pre-employment screenings

for alcohol or any drugs you're legally prescribed, you can forget your troubles without ruining your chances for the first job that comes your way.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

23. A lot of people woke up on 11/5/08 and discovered a black guy was in "their" White House....

Then they crawled into a whiskey bottle and haven't been out since.

[cosmicone]

24. And some here make fun of Russians and vodka!

At least they have an excuse -- bitter cold!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

40. Plus they live in Russia!

[treestar]

25. Thanks Obama

[olddots]

27. we are beginning to look like the old U.S.S.R .

communism , capitslism they both die eventually .

[IronLionZion]

30. I've noticed the happy hour/bar culture has exploded recently

in popularity. Hell, I like it too. When I started my current job, one of the first things I did to meet my coworkers was organize a happy hour after work and invite everyone.

But we are always mindful of anyone in our group who are on the 12 step program, which means many of our events should not be at bars. The happy hour culture is just hell for the workers who don't want to drink. I had an ex-girlfriend who was an alcoholic amongst other addictions but always bragged about how she could drink me under the table. My most recent girlfriend also shared the reason she didn't want to drink when we went out is because it runs in her family.

And when I finally moved into the city, I was always the type to tell people how I would never live in a bar neighborhood or in a building that is on top of a bar. Yet somehow I managed to do both. A buddy moved out of this neighborhood specifically because he was spending too much money going out and wanted a better neighborhood for his young kids.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

41. I'm afraind if I lived atop a bar I would be dead in 6 months.

[Corey_Baker08]

43. Personally I'm Far More Concerned With The Heroin Epidemic...

I have lost so many friends and family members to Heroin addiction it's unreal.

We need to focus on treatment as opposed to incarceration. We have a Methadone Clinic in my small East Central Indiana town & it has saved countless lives, including a close family member of mine.

Unfortunately people generally drive hours to get here. They are not bad people, they come in a variety of ages, ethnicities, financial backgrounds & so forth.

We Need More Methadone Clinics...

[benEzra]

46. That uses a pretty far-out definition of "heavy drinking", IMO.

A woman who drinks one glass of red wine with supper each day, and has one additional drink a week, is a "heavy drinker" by the definition they are using. That definition sounds like it was written by a Baptist teetotaler.