CONTACT: Prabhu Ponkshe , Health Matrix 703-918-4930
Prabhu@healthmatrixinc.com

FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, February 22, 2005

ARE STATES READY TO RAISE TAXES ON ALCOHOL?

Research has played a key role in raising the minimum legal drinking age and reducing limits of blood alcohol concentrations for drivers, because both measures were shown to have public health benefits. Research has also shown that an increase in alcohol taxes can reduce consumption and reduce the negative consequences of alcohol-related trauma and violence, especially among youth.

So are states ready to raise taxes on alcohol?

A new report from the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) looks at "state readiness" to act on research findings related to alcohol taxes. The report is written by James F. Mosher, J.D., and Charles Tremper, J.D., Ph.D., of the Center for the Study of Law and Enforcement Policy at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. It is the first report from SAPRP's new Targeted Rapid Response research grants, which are aimed at providing practical research-based information to policy makers. It is available at www.saprp.org .

"The purpose of this report is not to recommend alcohol tax increases in specific states, but to examine public health benefits and state-level conditions that might affect a proposal to increase alcohol taxes," according to the report's authors.

The report summarizes public health findings on alcohol taxes and also examines other factors, including the size of state budget deficits, political strength of public health advocates and the alcohol industry, proportions of drinkers and non-drinkers in each state, existing alcohol-related policies, cultural and religious factors, and the burden of alcohol-related health and crime on state budgets in relation to alcohol tax revenue.

"Any state legislator or advocacy group can use this report to understand the public health impact of raising alcohol taxes, as well as the politics and the economics of raising alcohol taxes," Mosher said. The report relies on information from a variety of sources, including economic and medical literature on alcohol taxes, the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Institutes of Health, Federation of Tax Administrators, and the alcohol industry.

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The Substance Abuse Policy Research Program ( www.saprp.org ) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ( www.rwjf.org ) is a $54 million program that funds research into policies related to alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. Based in Princeton , N.J. , RWJF is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grant making in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to quality health care at reasonable cost; to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse - tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs. To this end, the Foundation supports scientifically valid, peer-reviewed research on the prevention and treatment of illegal and underage substance use, and the effects of substance abuse on the public's health and well-being.

View Report (pdf)

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