Bay County was a hotspot for underage drinking last year, group says
Updated Feb 10, 2021;
Facebook Share
BAY COUNTY, MI - In 2019 and 2020, a larger portion of high school students were drinking alcohol in Bay County than anywhere else in Michigan, according to a presentation from a collective of local stakeholders.
Armed with some sobering data pulled from Michigan Profile for Health surveys of high school students, the Bay County Prevention Network held a Zoom discussion on the county’s underage drinking trends Tuesday, bringing together a group that included local health and services officials as well as Bay City Mayor Kathleen Newsham. The network is a group of county individuals and organizations working together to create an environment where substance abuse “is not the norm,” said coordinator Barry Schmidt.
Study says Michiganders coped with pandemic by drinking alcohol
The average Michigander had 956 drinks in 2020 according to DrugAbuse.com
“When you have people in their homes, isolated and not sure what’s going on. A lot of people will turn to alcohol to deal with that issue,” Barry Schmidt with the Bay County Prevention Network said.
Schmidt said the pandemic has created the perfect storm for substance abuse, depression, loneliness, and nothing to do.
“They couldn’t go out and go to the gym, they couldn’t go out and have a dinner,” Schmidt said.
One thing people could do was go to the party store. Alcohol sales went up 3% in 2020 to a total of $31.2 billion according to the distilled spirits council.