The Most Lethal Drug in America

Alcohol kills more Americans than opioids, yet Washington still treats the country’s oldest drug crisis as a lifestyle choice.

Author’s Note: This article is not part of my serial reporting on the proposed vineyard development in Columbia County, New York. But it is certainly Wine Wars adjacent.

The data on alcohol is strong. The facts are not obscure. We know what alcohol does to people, families, emergency rooms, hospitals, roads, workplaces, and public budgets. This is not an argument for outlawing alcohol. Not even close. I have had my share, and I am not writing from a place of temperance or moral purity.

But alcohol is not only a personal choice. At scale, it is a public-health issue with enormous human and economic costs. That is the point of this article.