A new report lists the drunkest cities in America. Of the top 20 cities, ten are located in Wisconsin.
The review comes from the web site 24/7 Wall St.
Read the report here.
According to the site, they take in factors like percentage of adults who drink to excess, percentage of driving deaths involving alcohol and number of restaurants and bars. The authors of the review say the Centers for Disease Control classifies binge drinking as four or more drinks at a time for women and five or more for men. They say heavy drinking is classified as eight or more drinks a week for women and 15 or more for men.
24/7 Wall St. says they reviewed the adult excessive drinking rate in 381 U.S. metro areas to find the 20 drunkest cities.
Here are the Top 5:
5. Fargo, ND-MN
4. Madison, WI
3. Appleton, WI
2. Eau Claire, WI
1. Green Bay, WI
We spoke with Capt. Kevin Warych with the Green Bay Police Department about the review.
“At face value, it's very concerning. But we have to look at how those numbers were calculated, what is it compared to,” he said.
Capt. Warych said he has concern about one factor in particular.
“We've had one traffic fatality since that tragic crash in 2016 where those two parents were killed on Packerland Drive,” said Capt. Warych.
He says the city and bars and restaurants have really come together with different organizations to prevent binge drinking and the consequences.
“As a community, this is kind of a collective effort. We need to have these conversations with one another make sure that we protect one another so that we can maintain the safe family oriented atmosphere that Green Bay currently has,” said Capt. Warych.
That is something Amanda Watson; the manager at Stadium View Bar and Grille says she agrees with. The bar is a member of the Brown County Tavern League.
“The Tavern League does such a great job of really protecting everyone, whether you're a tavern league member or not. So I think they're very good at educating every bar owner that's out there,” said Watson.
She says as a bar, they train servers to cut people off when necessary and help customers get a safe ride home.
So with ten of the top twenty drunkest cities in Wisconsin, we asked some people why they think the state is linked with alcohol consumption.
“I think drinking is part of the culture, but I don't think it's excessive,” said Watson with Stadium View.
“It's how we grew up. My dad drank; my brothers drank, so we all grew up like that,” said Robert Braun of Mukwonago.
Braun says its culture. But he believes people who drink have become more responsible over time.
“Now, everything a lot more safe. I think the laws are more stringent, which they need to be, nobody wants to die from drinking and driving,” said Braun.
According to the site which did the review, they say they collected data from county health rankings, university health studies and the Census. Most of the data was from 2016.
If you or someone you know has a drinking problem, there are resources to reach-out for help.
You can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
