Who Profits From Alcohol Taxes?

by Angela Logomasini on April 10, 2013

While there appears to be no acceptable level of alcohol consumption to participants at the Alcohol Policy 16 Conference, which met last week in Arlington, Virginia, they certainly don’t mind profiting from people who do drink. During a discussion on alcohol tax policy, these “public health advocates” discussed ways to hike the rates as much as possible and earmark the funds to their own organizations.

I thought we’d hear about research related to the impact of taxes on alcohol abuse. For example: Do higher taxes really reduce alcohol abuse or do they simply punish all alcohol consumers? The answer to that question appeared not to matter. The entire discussion revolved around how to lobby for taxes and profit in the process….How does this serve public health? It doesn’t, according to Bruce Lee Livingston of Alcohol Justice. He commented during the question and answer portion that activists are unable to get taxes high enough to actually produce positive public health benefits. Rather, he called for a “charge-for-harm” approach, which is based on the assumption that anyone who drinks deserves to be punished.

So there you have it. “Public health advocates’ have two main reasons for taxing alcohol: profit and punishment. Somehow that simply doesn’t seem fair.......To

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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: April 10, 2013  by Michelle Minton on April 10, 2013 · in Alcohol Regulation Roundup, Features