5 ms·

The article is down right now, but looking at the comments, the framing of this issue is weird. 10% pay 80% because 10% BUY 80%. That might be hard to believe.

The article is down right now, but looking at the comments, the framing of this issue is weird. 10% pay 80% because 10% BUY 80%. That might be hard to believe. But I remember looking at data on liquor consumption and curious about what the 80/20 rule was on it, and I was horrified to find that the something like over 50% (correction, 90%) of all liquor is consumed by people who drink and AVERAGE of 750ml for themselves per week. Alcohol sales primarily go to alcoholics. It's a truth we don't want to see. EDIT: when I say "liquor" I mean vodka, whiskey, etc - stuff that is at least 80 proof/40% ABV. Not wine.

olalonde 5y ago
That's like one bottle of wine? I really don't think that's enough to qualify someone as an alcoholic? I drink once or twice per week and probably go through more than that.
- loeg 5y ago
  Alcoholics drink a lot more than 750mL of wine a week. Wine is only ~12-16% alcohol. I think OP is either referring to ~40% liquor or 100% ethanol (as a unified way to compare across consumption of different types of alcoholic beverages).
  - olalonde 5y ago
    Oh right, brain fart.
- MivLives 5y ago
  It's one bottle of wine, but I'm assuming they're referring to liquor. There's about 17 drinks (it's like 44 ml to a shot in the US) in a bottle of liquor. That said 17 drinks in a week is 2 a weekday plus 3 a weekend, which doesn't seem that crazy.
  - conception 5y ago
    Until you realize that that means -every week- that's your plan. When's the last time you drank 2+ drinks a day every day for a year?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - loeg 5y ago
      ~2 drinks a day, every day, isn't great for you, but it isn't sufficient on its own to meet the criteria of alcoholism (Alcohol Use Disorder).[1] > Healthcare professionals use criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), to assess whether a person has AUD and to determine the severity if the disorder is present. Severity is based on the number of criteria a person meets based on their symptoms—mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria). A lot of the criteria are like, do you physically depend on alcohol? Or alcohol has harmed your quality of life? [1]: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/understanding-alcohol-use-disorder https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sh...
      - slenk 5y ago
        As an alcoholic, if you depend on that one drink every day and CAN'T go without it, you are an alcoholic.
        loeg 5y ago
        Yeah -- it's the dependency that's the diagnostic criteria, not the daily drink.
penneyd 5y ago
750ml a week is less than a glass of wine each day which is supposedly the amount that's good for heart health. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease...
- EduardoBautista 5y ago
  The parent comment, however, was referring to liquor. Which, I assume, to be whiskey, vodka, tequila, etc.
x0x0 5y ago
I was shocked to realize the alcohol industry caters nearly entirely to addicts. Something like 75% of alcohol is sold to raging alcoholics. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think... Consumption (average number of drinks per capita consumed in the past week, by decile, among adults aged 18 and over) deciles: bottom 3: 0 drinks/week 4th: 0.02 drinks/week 5th: 0.14 drinks/week 6th: 0.63 drinks/week 7th: 2.17 drinks/week 8th: 6.25 drinks/week 9th: 15.28 drinks/week 10th: 73.85 drinks/week
- hammock 5y ago
  YES! This is similar to the data I was looking at. Thank you for sharing the numbers.
vmception 5y ago
> Alcohol sales primarily go to alcoholics. It's a truth we don't want to see. I've always led with that assumption and I'm fine with it. I know how we got here and I think understanding that is important.

olalonde 5y ago

That's like one bottle of wine? I really don't think that's enough to qualify someone as an alcoholic? I drink once or twice per week and probably go through more than that.

loeg 5y ago
Alcoholics drink a lot more than 750mL of wine a week. Wine is only ~12-16% alcohol. I think OP is either referring to ~40% liquor or 100% ethanol (as a unified way to compare across consumption of different types of alcoholic beverages).
- olalonde 5y ago
  Oh right, brain fart.
MivLives 5y ago
It's one bottle of wine, but I'm assuming they're referring to liquor. There's about 17 drinks (it's like 44 ml to a shot in the US) in a bottle of liquor. That said 17 drinks in a week is 2 a weekday plus 3 a weekend, which doesn't seem that crazy.
- conception 5y ago
  Until you realize that that means -every week- that's your plan. When's the last time you drank 2+ drinks a day every day for a year?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - loeg 5y ago
    ~2 drinks a day, every day, isn't great for you, but it isn't sufficient on its own to meet the criteria of alcoholism (Alcohol Use Disorder).[1] > Healthcare professionals use criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), to assess whether a person has AUD and to determine the severity if the disorder is present. Severity is based on the number of criteria a person meets based on their symptoms—mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria). A lot of the criteria are like, do you physically depend on alcohol? Or alcohol has harmed your quality of life? [1]: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/understanding-alcohol-use-disorder https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sh...
    - slenk 5y ago
      As an alcoholic, if you depend on that one drink every day and CAN'T go without it, you are an alcoholic.
      - loeg 5y ago
        Yeah -- it's the dependency that's the diagnostic criteria, not the daily drink.

penneyd 5y ago

750ml a week is less than a glass of wine each day which is supposedly the amount that's good for heart health. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease...

EduardoBautista 5y ago
The parent comment, however, was referring to liquor. Which, I assume, to be whiskey, vodka, tequila, etc.

x0x0 5y ago

I was shocked to realize the alcohol industry caters nearly entirely to addicts. Something like 75% of alcohol is sold to raging alcoholics. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think... Consumption (average number of drinks per capita consumed in the past week, by decile, among adults aged 18 and over) deciles: bottom 3: 0 drinks/week 4th: 0.02 drinks/week 5th: 0.14 drinks/week 6th: 0.63 drinks/week 7th: 2.17 drinks/week 8th: 6.25 drinks/week 9th: 15.28 drinks/week 10th: 73.85 drinks/week

hammock 5y ago
YES! This is similar to the data I was looking at. Thank you for sharing the numbers.

vmception 5y ago

> Alcohol sales primarily go to alcoholics. It's a truth we don't want to see. I've always led with that assumption and I'm fine with it. I know how we got here and I think understanding that is important.