The 50 drunkest counties in the country (24/7 Wall St.)

Wisconsin has the most bars per capita so this checks out.

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I seriously can't believe not a single county in New Mexico has a color in the key. We have drinking problems but we need to try a hell of a lot harder to get in Wisconsin's league.

  • Nakoichi [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    That county in North Dakota is where the Three Tribes reservation is. One of my best friends is from there. It's fucking bleak.

    :doomer:

    Wisconsin is obviously home to most of them because it also has the highest number of breweries of any state.

    There's also two reservations intersecting that one in south Dakota too.

  • build_a_bear_group [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Wow, I knew Wisconsin is the state with the most drinking, but I didn't know it was that stark. I would have expected more outliers in economically depressed areas and other areas of high German immigration. I guess I am just living up to my culture!

    • build_a_bear_group [he/him, comrade/them]
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      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Though I should look into the methodology. I am starting to think that the definition of heavy drinker could bias it towards people regularly socializing at a bar rather than the usual picture of extreme alcoholism that comes from desperation and alcohol dependence. Because I think that the medical definition of heavy drinker averages around a beer a day. I only remember this because the cutoff is gendered, so a coworker was complaining because she and her husband averaged roughly a beer a day, since they drank a single beer with dinner most days. And since the cutoff was gendered, it was roughly 6 drinks a week for a woman and 8-9 for a man, so by their same drinking habits, she qualified as a "heavy drinker" and her husband was a "moderate drinker".

      • HumanBehaviorByBjork [any, undecided]
        ·
        2 years ago

        lmfao i'm not saying medical science is all made up, but there's a lot of stuff like this where it's clear doctors are just riffing

        • CTHlurker [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          It's probably loosely based on actual medical research, but these things tend to use gender as a shorthand for other factors that tend to correlate with gender. For instance, isn't alcohol metabolism heavily influenced by body weight? And since men are on average heavier than women, they just shorten it to "women shouldn't drink as much as men". Anyway, we have a few people on here who knows about actual medicine, and I hope they are able to jump in here.

        • Oso_Rojo [he/him, they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I recently had a checkup with my doctor and he told me that I am technically a “heavy” drinker because I have two beers most nights and occasionally more. Contrast this to some parts of Spain where doctors tell you it’s perfectly healthy to drink a whole bottle of wine every day.

        • build_a_bear_group [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I am guessing there is not a universal definition. Because Cadende just posted the methodology and it is one beer a day average for a woman, and two a day for a man in the methodology for this graphic.

    • Phish [he/him, any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It's entirely possible that cheeseheads enjoying being surveyed is a major factor in this study.

      • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Bless the Brewer and His beer.

        Bless the coming and going of Him.

        May His passage cleanse the bar.

        May He keep 'Sconi for His people.

    • build_a_bear_group [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      There is no-one else in the world that can produce the proper American Hefeweizen. Which makes Wisconsin some of the most important strategic assets of the American Empire. The Fremen of the north forged into hard men by the cold winters and the consuming of the Hefeweizen will swat aside the empires Sardukar Operators with their deer rifles. So goes the beer, so goes the empire.

      • build_a_bear_group [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Oh, hey der, I am Paul Armerhaufer. I am the rightful heir of the biggest Bass Pro Shop this side of the Mississippi, will you join me in my fight against the empire?

  • RedDawn [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    A first DUI in Wisconsin is not even a crime. Second is a misdemeanor

    • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      In New Mexico we have a "three strikes" law but the cops fuck it all up and it's a joke.

      Emphasis mine.

      KRQE obtained the Bernalillo County DA's Officer's data that also breaks down the reasons why a case is dismissed. It puts the blame on police officers. Depending on the police agency and the year, up to 77% of dismissals are attributed to the arresting officer failing to follow through on the case.

      The entire article

      Data: Officers to blame for DWI case dismissals | KRQE News 13

      Posted: Feb 8, 2022

      NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Over the years, there have been countless proposed plans in New Mexico to hold more drunk drivers accountable after they have been arrested. But, when it comes to moving the case through the court system, a KRQE Investigation shows not every drunk driver is held accountable. "If you were drinking and driving, the odds are you weren't going to be caught or convicted," Bernalillo County Deputy District Attorney Joshua Boone said.

      He explained he's been working to disprove that statement throughout the last several years. As part of that effort, Boone started tracking DWI convictions and dismissals in Bernalillo County.

      Looking through cases between 2018 – 2020, KRQE found several specific examples of accused drunk drivers arrested but being let off the hook. They created chaos, like complete disregard for rules of the road, a crash that killed a man crossing a street and an officer punched while making an arrest. In all three of these cases, police arrested and charged the driver, but eventually, each of their cases was dismissed.

      Boone's data shows in the last three years, the percentage of convictions is increasing each year, but hundreds of accused drunk drivers are still seeing their cases dismissed.

      In 2018, the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and New Mexico State Police caught 2,521 people driving drunk. By 2020, because of the pandemic, bar closures and continued police officer shortages, the number of DWI arrests plummeted by more than 600.

      That smaller caseload led to a spike in the percentage of convictions — from 56% in 2018 to 67% in 2020. What about the remaining third of cases in 2020? While some are dragging along in court, most have been dismissed.

      KRQE obtained the Bernalillo County DA's Officer's data that also breaks down the reasons why a case is dismissed. It puts the blame on police officers. Depending on the police agency and the year, up to 77% of dismissals are attributed to the arresting officer failing to follow through on the case.

      Judges can dismiss a case if an officer doesn't complete a pre-trial interview, turn over evidence or show up to court. "It's frustrating," Boone said. "If I lose cases on the merits because somebody is found to be not guilty or acquitted on a charge, I can always live with that. Losing cases on technicalities. That's a problem for me."

      As the main DWI prosecutor in the county, Boone knows the reality of cases falling through the cracks all too well. "If we get a case where discovery has been turned over, the officers have conducted their interviews and they show up to court, we're convicting at about an 89% rate," he shared. "We don't lose those cases."

      Eighty-nine percent of drunk drivers held accountable if everyone does their job. A statement each police agency took issue with. When asked about the DA's data, each one immediately disputed the numbers.

      APD's Chief Harold Medina said, "If the data we have is correct." NMSP's Chief Tim Johnson also noted, "You know, once you start digging into these, it's, I think it's a little more nuanced." And, BCSO's Lt. Aaron Williamson commented, "It doesn't take into consideration all the outside, you know, factors and forces that make those numbers up."

      Below you'll find the DA's data breaking down the reasons why a DWI case was dismissed. Wednesday on KRQE at 5:30 p.m., the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, and New Mexico State Police respond to these numbers and share what changes they're asking for to make these cases easier on their officers.

    • CliffordBigRedDog [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Dude in my country, they just straight up revoke ur license with possible jail time if your caught first time

  • buh [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    :kill-yourself-and-kill-everyone-around-you:

    • cawsby [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Spent a few months in Wisconsin on a gig, and the day drinking is next level.

      Some of the staff came in at 4-5am so they could leave early to start drinking around noon. This was considered normal.

  • CthulhusIntern [he/him]
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    2 years ago

    How the hell do New Orleans or Las Vegas not have a color? Do tourists not count?

  • SirKlingoftheDrains [he/him]
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    2 years ago

    Agree about New Mexico. I wonder what the data collection was like on this, because I can almost guarantee they didn't like, go to truth or consequences, raton, socorro, or berino or whatever small town NM. Prolly reached the yuppies in santa fe or the ghouls in los alamos or something. But the people i've met from wisconsin like to drink. "dursty dersdays" and "we put the sin in wisonsin" types can be found all through these lands

  • HamManBad [he/him]
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    2 years ago

    What else is there to do in the ham man's land? Wisconsin is open for business like Russia in the 90s

  • Abraxiel
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'm surprised there aren't any in Alaska.

    • Llituro [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      And liquor stores close at 9 in a classic tavern league attempt to get everyone to drink and drive.