The culture of alcoholism in Wisconsin and its effect on rural Wisconsinites

I was never embarrassed by my upbringing until I began to share it with others who were not raised in my Illinois hometown. My home county borders Walworth County, Wisconsin (population density of 191.7 per square mile), and I spent a lot of time in Wisconsin growing up. My house, much like my friends’ homes, was filled with clutter, empty bottles, and cigarette butts. All too often, dinner was meager leftovers disguised as a salad or stew; other times it was eaten with my mom in a bar. Either way, my mom and I washed the meal down with a bottle of room-temperature Coors Light and a breath of fresh smoke from the cigarette burning in my mother’s hand.

For a long time, my relationship with my mother consisted of nothing more than sharing a beer in my room while I did homework and listened to her complain about work. “Smoking kills,” I’d say as the air became hazy. “Work will kill me first,” she’d reply, “or hunger will get us both if I quit my job.”

Before I continue, I’d like to state that I adore my mother and greatly appreciate the sacrifices she has made for me. As a working, single parent who has lived a traumatic life, she was doing the best she could. I wouldn’t be where I am today, or probably even alive, without my mother and her selfless parenting.

Now that I am in a California law school, studying rural livelihoods, I realize my classmates’ judgment of my past is fitting. Although alcoholism is in no way exclusive to rural areas, I have learned that rural residents are much more likely to struggle with it, particularly those in the Midwest.

Recently, I stumbled upon this map, compiled by Ph.D student Nicholas Pierson at the University of Chicago from data gathered by County Health Rankings by the University of Wisconsin:

At first glance, I laughed and was proud that Wisconsin dominated the map. (For those not familiar with Wisconsin, the tiny white area in the middle-right is a lake, not a county).

Then, I began to ponder how Wisconsin got so drunk.

Numerous studies have shown that children mirror habits from their parents, as observational learning is one of the fundamental ways developing minds develop their behavior. This led me to wonder, does the time-old adage about “monkey see, monkey do” perpetuate alcoholism in Wisconsin?

From a young age, Wisconsinites are surrounded by drinking. Children often take trips to see the Clydesdale horses at the headquarters of the Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee or cheer on their MLB team, the Milwaukee Brewers. 

This pride surrounding beer (and drinking it) is evident in the legislation, too. In Wisconsin, underage persons are legally allowed to be served alcoholic beverages in public, so long as they are accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or spouse of legal drinking age. Further, many bars interpret this loosely. At age 12, I sat with my mom and legally drink in bars. As I got older, my friends and I would go with people of age and claim they were our guardians or spouses, which allowed us to be served just as easily. When doing so, we knew to stay out of urban centers like Milwaukee, where the laws tended to be more strictly enforced. We opted instead for small, corner bars in less populous areas that rarely check IDs at all.

However, allowing those under 21 to legally drink in public is not the only legislative loophole that allows minors to partake in addictive habits. Wisconsin law allows adults to escape liability for facilitating underage drinking. Their code specifies the elements of “knowingly permitting or failing to take action,” yet this only applies to adults physically occupying the property when underage drinking occurs. For lodging establishments, liability can be avoided if the establishment does not have hired security and if minors pay for the rented space themselves. (Although not strictly related to alcohol, Wisconsin also allows the sale of tobacco products to those 18 and over, even though federal law mandates an age of 21 to purchase.) 

As children grow to become adults, access to alcohol increases substantially. Wisconsin law allows adults to begin buying alcohol as early as 6 am. Tax on alcohol is also low in Wisconsin. Instead of using a percentage of cost sold, Wisconsin taxes alcohol by volume, at the following rates: all beer and cider is taxed at around 6.5 cents per gallon; wine is taxed at 25 cents per gallon; and liquor is taxed at $3.25 per gallon. These are among the lowest rates of taxation for alcohol in the nation. For comparison, consider that Washington state taxes beer at 26 cents per gallon, wine at 87 cents per gallon, and liquor at $35.22 per gallon. 

Wisconsin even provides a legislative loophole for the enforcement of drunk driving. Legislation classifies driving with a BAC over 0.08 as Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) instead of Driving Under the Influence (DUI). The difference between the two is in the enforcement because officers are not required to cite or arrest an adult for an OWI, even though the driver may be legally drunk. The consequences of an OWI are also far less harsh than that of a DUI because jail time is not imposed on first-time offenders unless the drunk driving results in injury, death, or endangerment of a minor (which occurs if a minor is in the vehicle when stopped by an officer). Furthermore, second-time offenders do not have much threat of jail time if their first offense happened ten or more years ago. Since OWI laws are much more lax than other states, many Wisconsin drinkers have the mindset that there is no penalty for drunk driving as long as they’ve never been caught before. 

Alcohol use is also greatly accepted in Wisconsin. Although there is no definitive reason as to why drinking is a cultural norm, everybody there agrees that it is. In fact, many Wisconsinites are proud to be known as drinkers, brag about their high-tolerances, wear state-specific drinking merchandise, and are even globally recognized for their spirit for the spirits.

This all seems like a lot of good (yet, irresponsible) fun until you consider this through the rural lens. After looking at the “% Excessive Drinking per County Map” above, I began to wonder why the upper Midwest, namely Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, the Dakotas, and Michigan, drink so excessively. A pattern emerged when comparing the map above to the “Classification of Counties” map by the Daily Yonder, which depicts which counties are rural, exurban, and urban:

Many of the Wisconsin counties with the highest percentage of excessive drinking are rural counties. I gave my best attempt at Photoshop to overlay the two, with the darkest green being rural areas with the highest percentages of excessive drinking:

The phenomenon of higher alcoholism rates in rural areas has been studied in length, and rural Wisconsin is no outlier to researchers’ findings. Statistics show that rural Wisconsinites have higher rates of excessive drinking than their urban neighbors. This study cites two main reasons for drinking alcohol: in social scenarios or to cope with mental health issues.

 

These two factors are certainly reflective of what I’ve seen in rural Wisconsinites. I’ll discuss social scenarios later, as I feel the tie between mental health issues and drinking is stronger in rural Wisconsin. One reason for this is the harsh winter climates. Although all of Wisconsin is subject to cold and gloomy weather, rural areas tend to suffer more from the elements. This is due to a lack of concentrations of buildings, pavement, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat, and a lack of resources to assist those needing refuge from the cold. Additionally, many rural counties in Wisconsin do not receive the warming effect of Lake Michigan in the winter. 

 

Over 3 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with seasonal depressive disorder (SAD), but many more experience some version of the “winter blues,” although not as severely. SAD and the “winter blues” typically occur during the colder months of the year when the skies are also drearier. Wisconsin experiences these colder months from October to April, making Wisconsinites susceptible to seasonal sadness six months out of the year. This is in addition to the higher depression rates rural citizens already face compared to their urban counterparts. (This 2014 post expands on the mental health crisis facing rural America). More than 2 million Wisconsin residents (almost half of the population) reported living in a community without access to mental health care. This data point does not include those who did not receive the poll and those who did not report, and it does not distinguish between rural and urban respondents.

           

Additionally, treatment for alcohol dependence and addiction is harder to find in rural Wisconsin. Although many areas have access to Alcoholics Anonymous programs, a large number of towns have no meetings within a 30-minute drive. Community substance abuse programs exist in every county, but they are often overcrowded, underfunded, and not available in all rural communities. 

 

Moving on to the social aspect, it is common for rural Wisconsinites to entertain themselves and rely on get-togethers as the only “fun” thing to do. (These get-togethers largely resemble the many basement scenes in That 70’s Show, which is based on the life of teenagers in rural Wisconsin). As established above, you can find alcohol anywhere in America’s Dairyland. However, urban areas have more alcohol-free activities to keep people entertained. Some rural Wisconsin counties rely on tourism, but the without the population to keep alcohol-free activities open year-round, the off-season only increases alcohol access. For example, Door County (Population 30,369), known as “the Cape Cod of the Midwest,” is a top summer destination for camping, fishing, lake life, and family fun. Yet when summer tourism has reached its end, many of the tourist attractions close. The only things that survive being open during the winter months are the alcohol establishments. For perspective, Door County has one liquor outlet for every nine residents. 

 

The combination of cultural, legislative, and societal factors, alongside high rates of mental health issues and low access to resources paves the way for generational alcoholism. Children—myself included—start drinking at a young age. This behavior is normalized, accepted, and in some cases legalized in Wisconsin. A quick Google search will pull up article after article on Wisconsin’s drinking culture and almost anyone from there will second it with first-hand accounts. As these children grow up, their drinking habits often become more alarming. Alcohol becomes easier to access and afford, punishments for drinking decline, and reasons to drink increase. Urban centers get to experience different lifestyles and have a better chance of changing their drinking habits. However, those in rural areas may see this drinking culture as normal behavior, because they haven’t experienced any other way of living.

 

As bizarre as it sounds, I am so grateful for the COVID-19 lockdowns because prior to that, I was an alcoholic. I started drinking when I was nine, my mom giving me a shot to calm me down or cure a sick throat. By the time I was 13, I had replaced Mountain Dew with beer. When I went to college, I could outdrink anybody, and I was proud of it. When the lockdown happened, I couldn’t go to bars, the stores were sold out of liquor, and I didn’t have anyone to drink with. I was an essential worker at the time, so I picked up extra shifts and filled my time with four jobs instead of filling my void with alcohol.

 

I will always be grateful for this time because it allowed me to break the cycle, culture, and tradition of alcoholism that was passed on to me. I can’t say the same for my friends and family, but their bootstrap mentality is a post for another time.