Wisconsin is such a great place to live. We have great schools, good jobs and beautiful natural resources to enjoy.
There's another distinction though we shouldn't be so proud of. That's our cultural acceptance of the overconsumption of alcohol: Drinking just to get drunk.
We see so much human misery and face enormous public safety, health and economic costs because of the misuse of alcohol.
It's tough to pick up the newspaper or turn on the news and not see stories about people being arrested for their third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and even 13th drunk driving offense.
We're so used to these kind of stories we think this behavior is normal. It's not. Our state has the absolute worst rate of binge and chronic heavy drinkers in the nation. We have the worst rate of underage drinking in the country. We're also worst in the country for fatal car crashes caused by alcohol.
More than 40 percent of the fatal car crashes in this state involve alcohol. In 2006, there were 8,400 crashes caused by alcohol in Wisconsin. More than 300 people were killed and 5,600 others were hurt in those wrecks. That's thousands of our family members, neighbors and co-workers hurt or killed in just one year because someone got behind the wheel drunk.
Alcohol is a major factor in many other crimes too, like sexual assault. Nearly 40 percent of offenders and almost two-thirds of victims are under the influence at the time of a sexual assault.
Law enforcement officers across the state are devoting countless resources and time they could be patrolling our communities but are instead dealing with individuals who've had too much to drink.
Taxpayers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to run jails, many of which are full of inmates who are there for alcohol related offenses. In Dane County alone we spend about $60 million in tax dollars each year to run the county jail. Nearly half of the sentenced inmates there are in jail for alcohol-related offenses.
Overconsumption of alcohol also hurts public health, increasing the prevalence of cancers, heart disease and other debilitating illnesses. Seventeen thousand people were so impaired in this state last year they had to be hospitalized.
It's estimated 250,000 kids in our state go home to parents who are intoxicated, either passed out on the couch or worse yet, verbally and physically abusive. This is real human misery.
With all the greatness of our state, why do we put up with this?
We can be different.
We all need to look inside ourselves and think twice about what we're willing to accept as appropriate. Whether it's looking in the mirror or talking with a co-worker, friend, or family member, we all can be part of the solution.
We need to do more for our young people who right now grow up in a culture of thinking the only things to do on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights involve a bottle-opener, can, or keg.
I'm doing the homework right now to see what we can be doing better in Dane County but this is a statewide problem. Please let me know of any ideas from your community of what could and should be done to make a difference.
This isn't about stopping drinking to celebrate. It's about stopping the celebration of drinking.
- Kathleen Falk has been elected Dane County executive three times, serving since 1997. She can be reached at (608) 266-4114 or by e-mail at: falk@co.dane.wi.us.
There's another distinction though we shouldn't be so proud of. That's our cultural acceptance of the overconsumption of alcohol: Drinking just to get drunk.
We see so much human misery and face enormous public safety, health and economic costs because of the misuse of alcohol.
It's tough to pick up the newspaper or turn on the news and not see stories about people being arrested for their third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and even 13th drunk driving offense.
We're so used to these kind of stories we think this behavior is normal. It's not. Our state has the absolute worst rate of binge and chronic heavy drinkers in the nation. We have the worst rate of underage drinking in the country. We're also worst in the country for fatal car crashes caused by alcohol.
More than 40 percent of the fatal car crashes in this state involve alcohol. In 2006, there were 8,400 crashes caused by alcohol in Wisconsin. More than 300 people were killed and 5,600 others were hurt in those wrecks. That's thousands of our family members, neighbors and co-workers hurt or killed in just one year because someone got behind the wheel drunk.
Alcohol is a major factor in many other crimes too, like sexual assault. Nearly 40 percent of offenders and almost two-thirds of victims are under the influence at the time of a sexual assault.
Law enforcement officers across the state are devoting countless resources and time they could be patrolling our communities but are instead dealing with individuals who've had too much to drink.
Taxpayers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to run jails, many of which are full of inmates who are there for alcohol related offenses. In Dane County alone we spend about $60 million in tax dollars each year to run the county jail. Nearly half of the sentenced inmates there are in jail for alcohol-related offenses.
Overconsumption of alcohol also hurts public health, increasing the prevalence of cancers, heart disease and other debilitating illnesses. Seventeen thousand people were so impaired in this state last year they had to be hospitalized.
It's estimated 250,000 kids in our state go home to parents who are intoxicated, either passed out on the couch or worse yet, verbally and physically abusive. This is real human misery.
With all the greatness of our state, why do we put up with this?
We can be different.
We all need to look inside ourselves and think twice about what we're willing to accept as appropriate. Whether it's looking in the mirror or talking with a co-worker, friend, or family member, we all can be part of the solution.
We need to do more for our young people who right now grow up in a culture of thinking the only things to do on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights involve a bottle-opener, can, or keg.
I'm doing the homework right now to see what we can be doing better in Dane County but this is a statewide problem. Please let me know of any ideas from your community of what could and should be done to make a difference.
This isn't about stopping drinking to celebrate. It's about stopping the celebration of drinking.
- Kathleen Falk has been elected Dane County executive three times, serving since 1997. She can be reached at (608) 266-4114 or by e-mail at: falk@co.dane.wi.us.
