Welcome a new rival of Milwaukee, drunkest US city, and Czech Republic, drunkest beer country.

It was not too long ago that we blogged the 2006 Forbes list of America’s Drunkest Cities, headed by Milwaukee, Minneapolis – St. Paul, and Columbus; mentioning that, worldwide, the Czech Republic was the country with the highest record of beer consumption. Now Finland, then No. 9 in world beer consumption, just reported it reached an all-time high in drunkenness last year. Oh-kay-then.

What’s Finnish for horizontal? Finland’s National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health confirms alcohol is the new No. 1 killer of adults in the country. Last year it was accountable for 17% of all deaths among 15 to 64 year old males, surpassing heart disease for the first time, and over 10.5% of all deaths among 15 to 64 year old females, alongside breast cancer for the first time.

More than 2,000 adults were killed by alcohol poisoning, or illnesses due to alcohol consumption, while close to 1,000 died in accidents or violent incidents due to alcohol. The Finnish government’s premier health and welfare agency further reports the cost of treating alcohol-related illnesses peaked last year at $1.1 billion, up 14% from 2003.

It is no woozy coincidence that the increase in Finns’ alcohol consumption itself is also 14%, from 2003 to its latest measured amount that is equivalent to 14.5 million gallons of pure grain alcohol. The culprit, as it were, has been a dramatic tax cut for alcohol effected in March 2004.

Pre-2004 tax cut, the government managed to maintain booze control by keeping retail prices high and alcohol content low in beers sold in supermarkets. Much to health carers’ protests, alcohol taxes were afterward slashed to save local sales from losing to the impossibly cheaper booze of neighboring Estonia and Russia.

In the first six months alone after the tax cut, 17 year olds registered a 10% growth in binge drinking. It was an early warning sign that would lead to far higher boozing rates and eventually end up in record-breaking inebriation, thanks in part to Finnish beer Sahti and Finnish vodka Koskenkorva.

Finland, home of Nokia, has 5,274,820 people spread over more than 330,000 sqkm, making it one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Imagine how much emptier it feels over there, given the Finns are no strangers to health-related massive deaths. Despite that the Finnish ice hockey team is a world’s best, Finland had one of the world’s highest death rates from heart disease in the 1970s and has long had the highest suicide rate among GNP nations.

In the same year as the controversial alcohol tax slash, the Czech Republic was No. 1 in per capita beer consumption annually, at 156.9 liters per year. Ireland ranked #2 with 131.1 liters, followed by Germany with 115.8, Australia with 109.9, Austria with 108.3, United Kingdom with 99.0, Belgium with 93.0, Denmark with 89.9, Finland with 85.0, and Luxembourg rounding out the top ten with 84.4 liters per year.

Forbes No.1 most drunken US city, “Milwaukee, christened as The Brew City and ‘the nation’s watering hole‘, has more bars per capita than any other large US city. It was once home to four of the world’s largest breweries (Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst, and Miller), out of which Miller remains standing as the second-largest beer maker in the US.” Nos. 2 to 10 drunkest US cities were Minneapolis – St. Paul, Columbus, Boston, Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Providence.

I guess this explains what happens while Indianapolis vs. Philadelphia free picks are being discussed around the table, although those opting to be naturally intoxicated by winning can always try some very sober sports betting.

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