New Year's Day 1916 was rough for Colorado residents looking for a little
hair of the dog. On that Saturday, the state stopped all liquor sales,
predating Prohibition by 4 years. Today, Colorado once again leads the nation
in its attitude toward alcohol--but now, the mandate seems to be "drink
till you drop." In our second ranking of urban inebriation, Aurora comes in
82nd, Colorado Springs finishes 98th, and, once again, Denver is Most
Dangerously Drunk.
We looked at annual death rates due to alcoholic liver disease, as well as
who's headed there by regularly downing five or more drinks in a sitting (CDC).
Next, we factored in drunk-driving arrests (FBI) and the percentage of fatal
accidents involving intoxicated motorists (U.S. Department of Transportation).
Then, after tallying the MADD report card of state efforts to cut down on
excessive drinking, we had our ranking and, for the state of Colorado, an
invitation to AA.