La Crosse ranks 6th ‘drunken city,’ local efforts aim to keep drinkers safe
Report: La Crosse has highest bars per capita in nation
The report by 24/7 Wall St. used data from adults reporting if they drink excessively on a regular basis to make their list, and it said La Crosse is one of only six cities in the country where over one in four adults area either drink heavily or binge drink. Appleton, Oshkosh-Neenah, Green Bay and Madison made the top four, and 12 Wisconsin cities made the top 20.
Catherine Klockmeier, director of the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium, said binge drinking is defined as five drinks in one sitting for men and four drinks in one sitting for women, and drinking heavily is usually defined as 15 drinks a week for men and eight for women.
She said although data shows the rate of adults drinking excessively in the area is going up, there is good news for the younger generation.
“The drinking rate and drinking and driving rate for both high school seniors and for college students has been going down in the city of La Crosse,” she said.
Klockmeier said there is a long history of alcohol production and drinking in the area.
“The fact that this state has such a strong history its economy was in part built by breweries and brewing of alcohol and selling of alcohol, that adds into the culture, that’s something we can’t ignore or avoid, either,” she said. “The important point is to try and make sure the people can stay safe and healthy. That’s really the common point we have with providers of alcohol, is how can we do this in a safe way?”
The Wisconsin Tavern League tries to make sure those who over-indulge have a safe way home with their Saferide program, which pays for their customers’ cab rides home.
“If they do have too many cocktails and do not want to drive home, as our part of an establishment we can call up a cab company and give them a ride home for that day so they make it home safe,” said David Lee, manager at the Alpine Inn, which is part of the League.
“We’re looking out for our patrons and making a safer community out there,” Todd Giraud, Monroe County Tavern League President said. “That’s a lot of people (we’re) keeping off the roads when they’re impaired.”
Giraud said in the state, Saferide provided over 85,000 rides to patrons last year. About 5,000 of those were in Monroe County, and 7,500 in La Crosse County.
Klockmeier said other ways to address binge drinking include social ordinances that punish adults who help minors drink, and making sure that when you do drink, to drink responsibly and try to eat food so the alcohol is absorbed more slowly.
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