jacobkap / alcohol

This data set contains the per capita (persons aged 14+) consumption of ethanol (in gallons) for each state and Washington D.C. for the years 1977-2016.

This data set contains the per capita (persons aged 14+) consumption of ethanol (in gallons) for each state, Washington D.C., and totals for census regions and the United States as a whole, for the years 1977-2016. This includes total ethanol consumed as well as consumption by three categories: beer, wine, and shots of liquor ("spirits"). The PDF includes a method to convert the ethanol variables into total drinks of each type. I used this method to create columns for how many beers, glasses of wine, shots of liquor, and total drinks were consumed.

The PDF doesn't say how many ounces of fluid is in each drink type (except for the number_of_drinks_total variable) so I used the information provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism here - https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/what-standard-drink. Please note that the number_of_drinks_total variable is based on the conversion formula provided, not by adding the individual drink categories together and therefore will be slightly different than that way of measuring it.

This data comes from a report by Sarah P. Haughwout and Dr. Megan E. Slater at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (downloaded here https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/surveillance110/CONS16.htm). That report is one of the files available to download and is included as it explains the methodology the two authors used for the data. I am not affiliated with the original report at all. If you do use this data please also cite the original report.

When using this data consider that it is rate per capita (persons aged 14+) based on the population in that state so states that experience lots of visitors (e.g. Nevada and Washington D.C.) may have incorrect numbers.