Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans... these are a few of the places in the U.S. Known for being party central. Most people would probably assume that one of these places would have the title of heaviest alcohol consumers. But if you assume that, you’re in for a surprise. Guess who really drinks the most... go ahead. Take a couple guesses. I bet you don’t get it.
The state that consumes the most alcohol is... wait... the tiny little state we call the Granite State. New Hampshire. Yep. That’s right. New Hampshire! That is, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
In their recent study, they found that New Hampshire consumed 4.65 gallons of alcohol (per capita). That’s a far stretch from the 2.1 gallons that the NIAAA believes is a healthy average. In fact, the last time we were at or below that average was way back in 1961. But it’s not just NH drinking it in.
The NIAAA says that our alcohol consumption has been on a steady rise since the 1990’s. There isn’t any information for the past couple years that I could find yet, but in 2012 consumption rose over 2 percent higher from 2011 – reaching 2.33 gallons per capita. 43 states in the U.S. Saw an increase in 2012. Maybe that’s why services like Alpha Recovery have become very in demand.
The five states with the most consumption in 2012, in order, are: New Hampshire, Dist. Of Columbia, Deleware, North Dakota and Nevada - Look at that, the state home to sin city itself made it in the top five, but at the bottom.
The highest point of alcohol consumption in the 150 years the NIAAA has been keeping track was in 1980 and 1981. The reason behind that is unclear. There was a small window of time after World War II when consumption was up. But it leveled off pretty quickly. That is, until we hit the 1970’s and the drinking was on.
With the growing popularity of craft beer and brewing your own beer, it’s kind of surprising that the consumption of beer has been declining since the 1980’s.
