Earlier in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study that placed Arizona fourth in the country for alcohol poisoning deaths. Adults aged 35 to 65 accounted for 76 percent of the alcohol poisoning deaths. Alcohol poisoning occurs when a person consumes a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time and the body cannot process the drinks fast enough. As the state of Arizona geared up to host the Super Bowl, many residents were planning to consume large amounts of alcohol. Researchers warn that this type of behavior is what has lead Arizona to reach the number four spot on the list. Despite Arizona being the home of Universities and colleges, young adults are not the reason for the low ranking.

Binge drinkers are most susceptible to alcohol poisoning. Surprisingly, most binge drinkers are actually adult males aged 40 and above. Most people consider that teenagers are the biggest culprits of binge drinking, however surveys prove that older males are the largest groups of binge drinkers. This may be because they work all week and spend one or two nights during the weekend drinking, it could be that because many adult males either succeed in their career or fail at their careers during this age period that alcohol is used as either a celebratory drink or a means of alleviating stress. Additionally, single men are more likely to go to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning than married men. Regardless of the reasons, Arizona reported that around 780,000 residents in Arizona reported that engaged in binge drinking behavior in 2013.

Binge drinkers are not necessarily alcoholics, however their behavior makes them more susceptible to an alcohol addiction. Generally, binge drinking is either done because a person is happy or sad, and either way it is a damaging activity physically and emotionally because of the toxic load ingested. Extreme emotions often lead a person to binge drink (defined as five or more drinks in one time span). Substituting alcohol to handle a problem or problems in life on a continual basis will never be a permanent solution.