Culture is the Culprit

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been reporting on various aspects of Wisconsin’s drinking culture this week in a series entitled “Wasted in Wisconsin.” You don’t have to sensationalize a series like this, because just reporting the facts is alarming enough.

In Part 4, the Journal Sentinel looked into the powerful Wisconsin Tavern League lobby and shared some accomplishments of the organization over the years. Consider these bullet points in the articles:

- Wisconsin remains the only state in the country where first-offense drunken driving is not a crime. No lawmaker has attempted to change the law in the past 11 years, and victim advocates say they can't find anyone willing to introduce a bill next session.

- The state hasn't raised the $2-per-barrel tax on beer since 1969. It's the third lowest in the nation. In the halls of the Capitol, the tax is considered untouchable.

- Despite a sea change that began to sweep the nation in the 1990s, no Wisconsin lawmaker tried to lower the legal limit for blood-alcohol content from 0.10 to 0.08 from 1997 through 2003. The league supported the change only after Wisconsin was threatened with the loss of federal highway funds.

- Almost single-handedly, the league killed a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants this year. Nearly 40 groups lined up in favor of the ban. The league led the charge to defeat it.

- Binge drinking — Wisconsin is No. 1.

- Percentage of drinkers in the population — Wisconsin is No. 1.

- Driving under the influence — Wisconsin is No. 1.

Wisconsin is known for its taverns, little ma and pa places where people in the neighborhood congregate to socialize and have a few drinks. On the south side of Milwaukee, for example, you can view any number of quiet intersections in residential areas, away from main thoroughfares, where there will be a little bar on each corner.

The owners may live upstairs or in the house attached to the little bar, which was added on when they decided to go into business. They have their regulars, people from the neighborhood who have been coming in every day since who knows when.

When I was in college I used to frequent these taverns. Bar hopping was a sport, but to have one beer in each of these little places, even if we were to limit our travel to a couple of square miles, would leave us all blind, staggering drunk. Many of the regulars walk from home, but in too many cases, somebody gets behind the wheel, well over the state’s .08 blood alcohol limit.

As much as drunk driving has become a political issue in the state, just the idea of so many people drinking so much is hard to comprehend. The tavern league employs one lobbyist, while other organizations, such as the teacher’s union, employ 10 or more, because the tavern league doesn’t need more than one lobbyist.

Political fund raisers are held in taverns all over the state. It is so much engrained into the culture that most any anti-drinking legislation is killed before it is printed on the page. If drinkers don’t like a politician, they vote him/her out. It’s simple.

The DUI in this state goes virtually unchecked, as law enforcement officers do their jobs and get them off the streets, but judges let them walk. It is not uncommon for us to read about people who have piled up five or more convictions, yet are still driving, either legally or illegally. The DUI laws are a joke.

I don’t mean to throw you a curve, but no laws are going to ensure that the drunks are off the roads. You can close the taverns and there will still be drunks on the road. Put a huge liquor tax on each beverage, and the drunks will still be on the road. At issue is not so much policy and legislation, but personal responsibility.

People complain about the “Nanny State” and having government interfere in their business, but in the case of drunk driving, people have proven over and over that they are not responsible and therefore they need to have a responsible adult control their behavior.

You can’t jail all of them, because the tax burden would be enormous. Five times is a felony in this state, and the governor wants it reduced to three times, but the ensuing incarceration rate would soar, putting twice the pressure on an already crowded prison system.

People have to start taking responsibility, not only for their own drinking habits, but for those of others. Repeat offenders have proven they can’t obey the law, so at least we can prevent them from driving. Take the keys and don’t apologize. Repeat offenders must go into treatment, willingly or otherwise. They must pass through that treatment program, not just be compliant and bluff their way through by saying all the right things.

They can embrace the treatment and learn to manage a deadly disease, or they must be put away where they can’t drive cars and threaten the safety of the community. DUI isn’t funny, although those who have been going through the system multiple times know the law is a joke. DUI has to be painful from the first offense and get increasingly more painful for the second and so on.

People need to get mad about this.

Ned Wicker is the Addictions Chaplain at Waukesha Memorial Hospital Lawrence Center.

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