Higher Alcohol Taxes, Less Drinking

The New York Times
By Eric Nagourney
Published: January 19, 2009
Higher taxes on alcohol can do more than add cash to ailing government budgets. A new study reports “statistically overwhelming evidence” that raising taxes also reduces the level of drinking.
Skip to next paragraphThe lead author, Alexander C. Wagenaar of the University of Florida, said the reduction in drinking had been found throughout the population, among social drinkers and problem drinkers alike. The analysis, in the February issue of the journal Addiction, is a review of more than 110 studies on the subject.
As prices go up, the study found, people become less likely to drink. And when they do drink, they drink less. The findings were true for teenagers as well as adults.
Although studies have found that moderate drinking can have beneficial health effects, other research has shown that reducing overall drinking has a broader social benefit, Dr. Wagenaar said. “Areas that drink more have higher rates of a wide range of problems (e.g., injuries and chronic health problems and deaths),” he wrote in an e-mail message.
He disagreed with critics of alcohol taxes who say they are unfair to people who drink reasonably. Nondrinkers and light drinkers, he said, in effect subsidize heavier drinkers because costs related to alcohol use are reflected in various things, like car insurance and health care.