According to the Washington Business Journal, a study released on Tuesday says a proposed hike in alcohol tax would decrease the number of alcohol-related deaths while saving the state money from alcohol-related crimes. The study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, estimates that a dime-per-drink tax would result in a four percent decrease in alcohol consumption.
The tax would save the state more than $225 million in costs associated with alcohol-related crimes, and would also generate more than $215 million in state revenue. Advocates of the tax want the money set aside to support health care services and anti-drinking programs for Maryland residents.
However, there are several against the tax, saying that a small increase in alcohol taxes would result in a loss of business, driving consumers to cross into other states to purchase alcohol.
“Forcing thousands of waiters, waitresses, bartenders and busboys into the unemployment line is no way to prop up the state’s health care system,” said Jay Hibbard, vice president of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
The tax would increase alcohol prices by an average of 6.6 percent and would cost drinkers about $11 a year. According to Vincent DeMarco, a lobbyist who supports the tax hike, says that the tax is so high because Maryland alcohol taxes haven’t been raised since 1972 for beer and wine and 1955 for spirits.
