Kentucky residents cure pandemic boredom by breaking out the liquor, survey shows
Getting bored at home during the COVID-19 pandemic? One-third of Kentucky residents surveyed have turned to liquor to solve that problem.
Pandemic-related boredom has caused nearly one-third of Kentucky residents to set aside the beer and wine and start breaking out the liquor, according to a study from the American Addiction Centers based on a survey of 3,050 adults 21 and older across the country. Kentucky wasn’t far from the national average. About one-third of those surveyed around the country said monotony during the pandemic caused them to drink more.
The commonwealth’s neighbors to the south set the nation’s highest mark, as 62 percent of Tennessee residents surveyed said pandemic boredom caused them to drink spirits with higher alcohol content.
The lowest percentage of new heavy drinkers was in Idaho. Eight percent of residents from the top potato-exporting U.S. state said they started drinking stronger liquor during the pandemic, according to the study.
Nationally, about 17 percent of people said their alcohol tolerance increased this year, according to the study. Almost one-quarter of those surveyed said they had gotten more relaxed about their drinking and about 50 percent said they’d started making cocktails at home.
Alcohol consumption issues aren’t new in Kentucky, which is known for its bourbon industry. The state was tied for the sixth-most drinks consumed by the average binge drinker in 2017, according to a study published this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 16 percent of Kentucky adults were considered binge drinkers in a 2015 study from the CDC, which was actually one of the lower percentages in the country. However, binge drinkers in Kentucky consumed the fourth-most drinks of any state, according to the study.
A 2010 study estimated that Kentucky residents spent a total of $3.2 billion on binge drinking. The CDC has warned that heavy drinking can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease and cancer.
Heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death in Kentucky, according to the CDC.
Drinking also can lead to car crashes, drownings, falls and other accidents. Accidents are the fourth-leading cause of death in Kentucky, according to the CDC.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 9:33 AM.