Alcohol Consumption By Americans Is Way Up

Thanks to women, Americans are drinking alcohol much more heavily now than in the past.

A study out Thursday in the "American Journal of Public Health" says more people now are considered heavy or binge drinkers than in recent years.  The rise in excess drinking is credited to the fact that women are drinking more.

The rate of women binge drinking rose by 17-point-five percent from 2005-2012.  Researchers studied drinking patterns in U.S. counties from 2002 to 2012.

Menominee County in Wisconsin had the highest rate of binge drinkers for both sexes at 36-percent. (Metro Networks Inc.)