Alcohol-Related Deaths In WI Show Alarming Increase

A recently released report has found that deaths due to alcohol are way up in Wisconsin. Mark Sommerhauser is a policy researcher for the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

“I do want to put this in the proper context, it’s not just Wisconsin. This is something that’s been happening nationally. We’re just one of 50 states, we’re part of a national trend. But I think within that we need to acknowledge that this issue is worse in Wisconsin.”

The study found that alcohol-related deaths in the state jumped from 865 in 2019, to 1077 in 2020, a more that 24 percent increase following a gradual, decades long upward trend. The majority of the deaths were among middle-aged and older Wisconsinites.