I got a news report last week documenting burst bladders from binge drinking. Before it was only men. Now women have had burst bladders from binge drinking too. So I don't think the body totally gets used to binge drinking. Some people may have a tolerance for drinking the alcohol and not behaving too badly, but statistics on crime and alcohol level demonstrate otherwise.

In Wisconsin, we've had a problem--and remember we are the top ranked state for binge drinking--with college-age people falling or jumping into the Mississippi River, off bluffs near one of the University branch campuses after binge drinking.

Tolerance, Schmolerance. It's too much to drink at one sitting and there's only one reason to drink that much in that little time and that is to get drunk. I think we'd all be a lot safer if bars had a cut-off and people drank to get drunk AT HOME. That's not going to happen, of course.

One insight into why Wisconsin might be the capital of binge drinking is how much the cultures supports it. Taxes haven't been raised on beer since the 1960s, for instance. I think it has the second lowest tax on alcohol in the country. And we have all sorts of "drinking" festivals--Oktoberfest, Halloween in Madison, Wisconsin football games, where fan behavior gets disgraceful. I can barely get through downtown on a game morning. Game starts at 11. By 9 a.m. the streets are full of people drinking. That's just downright annoying to me. Game nights are even worse, though. Then it's dark and people are drinking and driving. One reason I do not go to football games, although it could be a deterrent to young people for drinking to sit behind drunk college students puking all over the placed.