New Mexico ranks #1 for alcohol-related deaths in U.S.
The New Mexico Department of Health announced on Friday that our state continues to have the highest rate of alcohol deaths, according to a new CDC study.
Researchers looked at data over four years ending in 2015. They found that New Mexicans died at a rate of 52.3 per 100,000 people. That's almost twice the U.S. average of 27.4 per 100,000 people.
The state that ranked close to New Mexico was Montana with a death rate of 37.4 per 100,000 people.
Not only are we fighting to reverse life-threatening alcohol use, we are also fighting a stress-inducing pandemic that is contributing to increased alcohol consumption. We must use every tool available to reduce alcohol-related death and years of potential life lost due to excessive alcohol use, New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel said.
To help with this issues, experts recommend states to limit where alcohol can be bought, as well as limiting days and hours of sales to help bring down these numbers.
https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-ranks-1-for-alcohol-related-deaths-in-us/33607566