Increasing Alcohol Taxes Saves Lives and Money

Professors David Jernigan and Hugh Waters of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health released a report on the virtues and value of alcohol taxes and funded by the Abell Foundation.

“This Report demonstrates that, like increasing tobacco taxes, raising alcohol taxes saves lives and saves society money,” said Vincent DeMarco, President of theMaryland Citizens’ Health Initiative. “Professors Jernigan and Waters have demonstrated that a modest ten cents per drink increase in the state alcohol excise tax will save thousands of Marylanders from alcohol dependence and save us all many millions of dollars in alcohol-related societal costs. This report makes it clear to policymakers that increasing the state’s alcohol excise taxes, which were last raised in 1972, would be a win-win for the state.”

Click here to view the full report.