Turning Two Positives into a Negative

Read an interesting report on liquor sales in the state of Michigan.  The title of the piece is “Liquor sales jump by a third in Michigan since 1998."

The article informs us that the state of Michigan has moved up to the number six spot in the nation, in regards to liquor sales, when comparing sales in 1998 to sales in 2003.  Accompanying this bit of retailing good news, is this surprising good news.

"Accompanying the jump in liquor sales has been a 10 percent decline in the number of arrests for operating under the influence and a 30 percent decline the number of cases of alcohol treatment, to 55,227 in 2003, according to figures from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration."

How will the statist statisticians twist that accompanying data into a negative, that can then be used to brow beat the masses into accepting more control over their lives?  With the help of people such as Kellie A. Puro, I’d wager.

”...But the increased sales worry some health officials like Kellie A. Puro.

“With all the financial troubles, people are drinking more and that’s not good,” said Puro, president of the Horizons Treatment Center in Livonia. “People are out of work. There’s no structure. There’s no support. There’s nothing to do but drink. It fills the void."

Puro, the eternal pessimist, I guess.

I did glean one other tidbit of information from the article.  Northern Michigan residents are leading the way in Michigan’s climb up the liquor sales charts, while residents around my neck of the woods have been slacking off.  Though I’ve done my share to boost sales.

"Liquor Control Commission figures indicate that more liquor is purchased per capita in northern Michigan counties like Mackinac and Emmet than anywhere else, while the lowest per capita sales are in counties near Indiana, like Cass and Hillsdale, and those around Grand Rapids, like Barry and Ionia."

Posted by on 05/18 at 04:46 AM

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