Maine needs higher alcohol taxes

The Jan. 14 editorial “Is Alcohol Undertaxed?” was right on the money. It is time to think about increasing the alcohol tax in Maine.

There is plenty of opposition to this and we will hear opponents with heated opposition to what they call “sin taxes” and a description of a slippery slope toward “prohibitionism.” They will bemoan the already high “tax burden” in Maine. But don’t be distracted and don’t be fooled by these red herring arguments.

The dozens of individuals and agencies that came forward to testify, and the hundreds that signed resolutions in support of an alcohol tax in the last legislative session did so not out of any moral outrage over drinking, or a desire to make it illegal, but out of an understanding that we are all paying for the cost of alcohol abuse in Maine right now. And that cost is getting higher every year.

Alcohol products should be taxed at a higher rate as an impact fee, because alcohol is costing us all millions of dollars in economic impacts and hundreds of lives a year, and it is contributing to adverse health consequences for many Mainers. We also know now that raising the price of alcohol is a protective factor in reducing underage drinking.

In a report released this month from the Office of Substance Abuse, “The Cost of Alcohol and Drug Abuse,” it states that the total estimated cost of substance abuse in Maine in 2005 was $898.4 million or $660 for each Maine resident. The lion’s share of this cost is attributable to alcohol abuse alone, with less than 3 percent of this being the cost of direct treatment.

The “social costs of alcohol” as described in “Paying the Tab,” by Duke University professor Philip Cook are the costs we all pay for now out of our property taxes and income taxes. We pay for the jails and prisons, fire and police protection, child protection and other social welfare programs, to name a few. These costs are all driven up by the abuse of alcohol.

The editorial also pointed out that, “Unlike tobacco taxes, the real tax rates on alcoholic beverages – adjusted for inflation – have gone down.” This is very true, especially here in Maine. We haven’t increased alcohol taxes for 20 years and we tax it in cents per gallon sold, not percentages of price, so the value of the taxes has eroded with inflation.

The alcohol tax in Maine is not as high as opponents would have you believe. Beer is only about 3 cents per bottle and wine only 2 cents per glass. A small increase would generate needed revenue and not adversely impact moderate drinkers.

Survey after survey shows that alcohol continues to be the number one drug of choice among both Maine adults and youth, leading to these millions of dollars a year in financial impacts to the state, yet we are reluctant to address it directly because as a society, we have very contradictory feelings about alcohol.

Let’s set the record straight – we do not think the use of alcohol is a “sin,” alcohol addiction is not a “personal failing” nor will punishment eliminate it, underage drinking is not just “to be expected” and parents cannot just “tell their children to say no” or punish them into doing the right thing. These are all myths we must get past.

We need to change our community environment, raise our expectations and model the behaviors we want to see in our youth. We need to invest the needed funds into prevention, education and treatment. Alcohol is a potentially addictive product that can have positive benefits when used in moderation by adults and tremendously negative impacts when abused, over used or used at all by youth.

Evidence shows that the general population understands the impacts from alcohol abuse and would support an increase in the alcohol tax. In the spring 2007 Quarterly Omnibus Poll conducted by Pan Atlantic SMS Group, 70 percent of Mainers expressed support for an alcohol tax of up to a “dime a drink,” especially if some of the proceeds went to funding alcohol and substance abuse treatment and prevention programs, which in Maine are woefully under-funded.

Unlike with other drugs, policymakers have ignored the influence of the supply side of the equation in dealing with alcohol. Higher alcohol taxes and other supply restrictions are effective and underutilized policy tools that can deter abuse while preserving the pleasures of moderate consumption.

I believe that the answer to the question of whether alcohol is undertaxed is a resounding “yes.”

Malory Shaughnessy is the statewide coordinator of the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse and the Maine Methamphetamine Prevention Project.