DrugAbuse.com has released a new study that maps out America’s biggest “vice capitals”—i.e., the cities where people tend to enjoy their drunkin,’ druggin,’ and debauchery more than anyplace else. The site analyzed 451,484 vice-related tweets that came from US cities comprised of more than 200,000 residents, and the website’s findings were curious.
Surprising, and Not So Surprising, Results
You’re probably not surprised (er, we aren’t anyway) to see that gambling is the biggest vice in Las Vegas; meth is biggest in Albuquerque (oh hi, Breaking Bad); or that pot love is through the roof in Denver. But did you expect Columbus, Ohio to be the country’s heroin capital, or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to win the dubious distinction of being the alcoholic hub of this grand land of ours? And how about Buffalo, NY being a hotbed of MDMA?
The website determined this data by examining tweets “relating to 9 different vices, in cities with populations of 200,000 or more and that had over 200 tweets. Of the 451,484 tweets that came in, 107,835 met the geographic criteria we were looking for.” They searched Twitter for phrases, some of them unintentionally hilarious—such as “ganj,” “reefer,” “nose candy,” “drunk,” “canny,” “black tar,” “skag,” and other fun stuff like “boning” and “screwing.” (Oh! And New Orleans is the sex capital, BTW. Surprised? Yay/nay?)
Vegas Still Reigns Vice
Anyway, after crunching all this data, they reached the conclusion that Vegas is the top vice capital; Pittsburgh is the 4th biggest; then New Orleans; then Buffalo; then Boston, Mass. (Random. Or is it?) Are you shocked by any of these findings? What would you have expected to rank? If you asked me, I probably would have voted for NYC as the top vice hub, then maybe Los Angeles, then San Francisco, then New Orleans. Or something. Who knows. In any case, it all puts a spin on the idea that home is where the heart is. Er, home is where the heroin is?
Go check out the site for deeper analysis of what their researchers turned up; there’s some fascinating and juicy stuff.
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