New Mexico has highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in nation

SANTA FE, New Mexico — According to a recently published report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Mexico continues to have the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the country.

New Mexico’s alcohol-related death rate of 52.3 per 100,000 population was almost twice the U.S. rate for the years 2011 through 2015.

The average U.S. alcohol-related death rate per 100,000 population was 27.4 for the same period.

The CDC report used data from the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact application.

ARDI is a measure of total deaths associated with alcohol use, including those for which other causes of death were involved.

Rates were calculated based on the updated ARDI, which uses alcohol attributable fractions for 58 conditions.

New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel says the state “must use every tool available to reduce alcohol-related death and years of potential life lost due to excessive alcohol use.”