Alcohol consumption is good for your health: an epidemological study

For over a century the WCTU, the medical profession, and others have been telling us that alcohol consumption is bad for our health. However, the epidemiological facts show that this is not true. First, Table I below shows that the seven states with the lowest life expectancy also rank among the lowest in alcohol consumption, while Table II shows us that 11 of the top 20 states for life-expectancy have higher than average levels of alcohol consumption — and that in fact, 5 of the top 20 states for life expectancy are also in the top 10 for alcohol consumption. (For comparison, Table III shows the states, only 11, which conform to the expected pattern, with the states drinking relatively less having longer life expectancies and those drinking relatively more having lower life expectancies.) Table IV gives all the states of the union and their ranks in longevity and in alcohol consumption together: the source for longevity is Wikipedia, and the source for alcohol consumption per capita is World Population Review (Table V).

In Table IV the state with the highest life expectancy gets a 1 in that column, and the heaviest drinking state gets a 1 in the other column. The totals in the third column tell you whether and how far each state diverges from what would be expected if alcohol use correlated with bad health. If alcohol use did convert unfailingly to bad health, than every state would get a total of 51: the healthiest state (1) would drink the least, and the least healthy state (50) would drink the most. If high alcohol use correlated perfectly with good health, these numbers would range from 2 (best health, most alcohol) to 100 (least alcohol, worst health). And oddly enough, there really are 5 states with numbers in the 90s, with the least alcohol consumption and the worst health, while of the 10 states with the longest life expectancies, only two are even below average in per capita alcohol consumption, and not far below either. As it happens, there are only 11 “normal” states whose total scores are at all close to 51 (Table III), and 39 states whose total scores are 60 or more or else less than 40. The most prominent result is seen in Table I, in which 5 of the 6 states that drink the least are among the 6 states with the lowest life expectancy.

A few small states adjacent to larger states with higher liquor taxes may show misleadingly high alcohol consumption: these include New Hampshire, Maine, Delaware, and Rhode Island. The statistics for several other states probably have been distorted by their large tourism industries: these includes Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and perhaps a few small New England states. Finally, the longevity statistics of several states probably have been distorted by very large retiree populations: at least Florida and Arizona. I have starred* these states where appropriate. I draw no conclusions about these possible problems with my thesis, but just mention them to show that I am a serious scientist.

To sum it up, the epidemiological evidence strongly indicates that low alcohol consumption is bad for the health. The states with the lowest life expectancies drink the least, while some of the heavy-drinking states have long life expectancies. The conclusion is clear: someone who wants to die young should just quit drinking and move to West Virginia. Someone who wants to live a long and happy life might think of moving to Minnesota and having a few beers.

Of course, the WCTU and the medical profession might quibble: “States don’t drink alcohol and states don’t die: individuals do”, or “There are other causes of death besides alcohol, you know. ” To these people I can only respond: “Why do you hate Science?

TABLE I
STATES WITH LOW ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND LOW LIFE EXPECTANCY

Rank in life expectancy	State	Rank in alcohol consumption per capita	Combined
44.	Tennessee	38	82
45.	Oklahoma	47	92
46.	Arkansas	48	94
47.	Kentucky	44	91
48.	Alabama	43	91
49.	Mississippi	34	83
50.	West Virginia	49	99

TABLE II
STATES WITH RELATIVELY HIGH ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND RELATIVELY HIGH LIFE EXPECTANCY

Rank by life expectancy	State	Rank by alcohol consumption per capita	Combined
1*.	Hawaii	16	17
2.	California	22	24
4.	Minnesota	13	17
5.	Connecticut	24	29
6.	Massachusetts	19	25
7	Colorado	9	16
10.*	Florida	18	28
15.	Vermont	6	21
16.	North Dakota	4	20
17. *	New Hampshire	1	18
20.	Wisconsin	8	28

TABLE III
” NORMAL” STATES WITH AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY AND AVERAGE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

Life expectancy rank	State	Per capita alcohol consumption rank	Total
9.	Washington	32	41
12. *	Arizona	31	43
13.	Oregon	15	48
14. *	Rhode Island	17	41
18.	Nebraska	36	54
19.	Virginia	39	58
21.	Iowa	23	43
23.	Illinois	28	51
24.	Texas	29	53
28.	Wyoming	14	42
30. *	Maine	11	41

TABLE IV
ALL STATES OF THE UNION RANKED BY AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY, TOGETHER WITH THEIR RANKS ACCORDING TO PER CAPITA ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
Life expectancy source

States with a high retiree population, states with very large tourism industries, and small states with relatively low liquor taxes adjacent to larger states with high liquor taxes are all *starred.

Life expectancy rank	State	Per capita alcohol consumption rank	Total
1.*	Hawaii	16	17
2.	California	22	24
3.	New York	33	36
4.	Minnesota	13	17
5.	Connecticut	24	29
6.	Massachusetts	19	25
7	Colorado	9	16
8.	New Jersey	25	33
9.	Washington	32	41
10. *	Florida	18	28
11.	Utah	50	61
12. *	Arizona	31	43
13.	Oregon	15	48
14. *	Rhode Island	17	41
15. *	Vermont	6	21
16.	North Dakota	4	20
17. *	New Hampshire	1	18
18.	Nebraska	36	54
19.	Virginia	39	58
20.	Wisconsin	8	28
21.	Iowa	23	43
22.	Idaho	7	29
23.	Illinois	28	51
24.	Texas	29	53
25.	Maryland	41	66
26.	Alaska	12	38
27.	South Dakota	10	37
28.	Wyoming	14	42
29.	Montana	5	34
30. *	Maine	11	41
31.	Nevada	3	34
32.	Kansas	45	77
33. *	Delaware	2	35
34.	Pennsylvania	27	61
35.	North Carolina	40	75
36.	New Mexico	30	66
37.	Michigan	26	63
38.	Georgia	46	84
39.	Missouri	21	60
40.	South Carolina	35	75
41.	Indiana	37	78
42.	Ohio	42	84
43. *	Louisiana	20	63
44.	Tennessee	38	82
45.	Oklahoma	47	92
46.	Arkansas	48	94
47.	Kentucky	44	91
48.	Alabama	43	91
49.	Mississippi	34	83
50.	West Virginia	49	99

TABLE V
STATES OF THE UNION RANKED IN ORDER OF PER CAPITA ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
States with very heavy tourism and states with low liquor taxes adjacent to more populous states with high liquor taxes are *starred.

STATE	RANK	GALLONS OF ETHANOL PER YEAR
*New Hampshire	1	4.67
*Delaware	2	3.52
*Nevada	3	3.42
North Dakota	4	3.16
Montana	5	3.1
*Vermont	6	3.06
Idaho	7	2.94
Wisconsin	8	2.93
Colorado	9	2.88
South Dakota	10	2.87
*Maine	11	2.85
Alaska	12	2.85
Minnesota	13	2.79
Wyoming	14	2.78
Oregon	15	2.74
*Hawaii	16	2.66
Rhode Island	17	2.62
*Florida	18	2.61
Massachusetts	19	2.55
*Louisiana	20	2.55
Missouri	21	2.52
California	22	2.49
Iowa	23	2.4
Connecticut	24	2.4
New Jersey	25	2.36
Michigan	26	2.36
Pennsylvania	27	2.34
Illinois	28	2.32
Texas	29	2.26
New Mexico	30	2.26
Arizona	31	2.25
Washington	32	2.22
New York	33	2.21
Mississippi	34	2.17
South Carolina	35	2.16
Nebraska	36	2.16
Indiana	37	2.15
Tennessee	38	2.14
Virginia	39	2.13
North Carolina	40	2.13
Maryland	41	2.08
Ohio	42	2.03
Alabama	43	1.99
Kentucky	44	1.95
Kansas	45	1.92
Georgia	46	1.9
Oklahoma	47	1.85
Arkansas	48	1.78
West Virginia	49	1.74
Utah	50	1.35

TABLE VI
ALCOHOL TAX BY STATE

States with low liquor taxes which are adjacent to more populous states with high liquor taxes are *starred.

State	Alcohol Tax by State
Washington	$33.22
Oregon	$21.95
Virginia	$19.89
Alabama	$19.11
Utah	$15.92
North Carolina	$14.58
Kansas	$13.03
Alaska	$12.80
Maryland	$11.96
Michigan	$11.95
Illinois	$10.91
Ohio	$9.83
Montana	$9.75
Minnesota	$9.01
Indiana	$8.55
Arkansas	$8.41
Louisiana	$8.33
Mississippi	$8.11
Vermont	$7.68
West Virginia	$7.62
Pennsylvania	$7.21
Georgia	$6.50
New York	$6.44
Florida	$6.20
New Mexico	$6.06
Idaho	$5.98
Oklahoma	$5.56
New Jersey	$5.50
South Carolina	$5.42
*Rhode Island	$5.40
Connecticut	$5.40
North Dakota	$5.12
Massachusetts	$5.03
South Dakota	$4.67
*Delaware	$4.50
Tennessee	$4.46
Hawaii	$3.79
Nebraska	$3.75
Nevada	$3.60
California	$3.30
Wisconsin	$3.25
*Maine	$3.03
Arizona	$3.00
Iowa	$2.68
Kentucky	$2.50
Texas	$2.40
Colorado	$2.28
Missouri	$2.00
Wyoming	–
*New Hampshire	–