A new meta-analysis shows that alcohol taxes have a clear effect on drinking
On the
basis of over 100 studies, researchers have found that “when prices go
down, people drink more, and when prices go up, people drink less.”
Researchers
Alexander Wagenaar, Matthew Salois and Kelli Komro at the University of
Florida College of Medicine have conducted a meta-analysis of 1003
estimates from 112 studies on the effect of beverage alcohol price and
tax levels on drinking.
They
found that beverage alcohol prices and taxes are related inversely to
drinking and that the effects are large compared to other policies, such
as law enforcement, media campaigns and school programmes.
The
study also determined that tax or price increases affect the broad
population of drinkers, including heavy drinkers as well as light
drinkers, including teens as well as adults.
The authors conclude, “public policies that raise prices of alcohol are an effective means to reduce drinking.”
The research paper can be found here.
In a separate commentary available here,
Frank Chaloupka states “these findings provide a strong rationale for
using increases in alcoholic beverage taxes to promote public health by
reducing drinking.