Labels: drug-abuse, underage-drinking, teen-drinking
Posted By: Aspen Education Group
Monday, December 22, 2008
New York State Proposes Alcohol Tax to Curtail Teen Drinking
On December 15, representatives in the New York State Assembly proposed a 25 cent per bottle tax on beer, wine, and liquor to create revenues to be used to help curtail teen drinking. The excise tax would be charged to distributors and noncommercial importers of all alcohol sold in New York State. The authors of the bill cited recent data which indicate that between 12 and 20 percent of the alcohol market in the United States is composed of underage drinkers. In addition, the bill's justification includes the fact that "research has shown that higher prices on alcohol can reduce teen alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems." Approximately 1.6 million adults and 160,000 youth in New York State suffer from drug or alcohol abuse problems. (Source: legislativegazette.com)