More people drink themselves to death in northwest New Mexico than anywhere else in the state, which is one of the worst states in the country in terms of alcohol-related deaths per capita.
Three counties in northwest New Mexico — San Juan, McKinley and Rio Arriba — have the highest concentration in the state of people who died from various alcohol-related issues from 2007 through 2009, according to reports recently published by the New Mexico Health Department
New Mexico has been one of the top three states with the highest alcohol-related death rates per capita every year since 1981, said Joe Roeber, the New Mexico alcohol epidemiologist for the state's health department.
In San Juan County, the three-year, alcohol-related injury death rate was more than double the national average and in McKinley County the rate was more than triple the national average. Examples of alcohol-related injury deaths include deaths from vehicle crashes, falls and suicides.
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