Excessive drinkers, high income households pay majority of state alcohol tax increases
Across all states, excessive drinkers would pay more than 5 times as much as nonexcessive drinkers on a per-person basis, and would pay nearly $3 in $4 of the increased cost of alcohol following the state alcohol tax increases examined in the study. Even the largest hypothetical tax increase ($0.25 per drink) would cost those who don't drink excessively an average of less than $10 per year. Additionally, the study found that drinkers who were non-Hispanic whites and those with higher household incomes would pay higher per capita costs than people with lower incomes and racial minorities , reflecting the fact that those with financial means tend to drink more than their counterparts. "This study shows that, contrary to popular opinion, alcohol tax increases don't unfairly burden those who drink less or are financially disadvantaged," said Tim Naimi, MD, MPH, physician and alcohol epidemiologist at BMC who is the lead author of the study. "This is important be...