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Take Action: Tell Jerry Brown to Adjust Alcohol Excise Tax

   

JerryBrown

Since 1991 Big Alcohol lobbying has resulted in California losing $1.8 billion in revenue. A simple inflation adjustment and a nickel a drink increase on beer and wine would generate an additional $641.7 million in 2013-2014, and $8.22 billion through 2023. Adjusting alcohol taxes is a sensible and fair way to address the State's looming budget deficit. Higher alcohol taxes are also sound public health policy. They are passed on to consumers, resulting in higher retail prices and reduced consumption. Reduced consumption will reduce the annual catastrophe of $38 billion in alcohol-related harm in California. It's time to tell California's elected leaders to stop the Big Alcohol subsidies, adjust the excise tax, increase revenues, and stem the tide of alcohol-related harm in the state.

- Read the Report            - Press Release               - Take Action 

 

New Voices on Big Beer & (De)Regulation

BarryIn December 2012 the New America Foundation, in partnership with the American Antitrust Institute and Washington Monthly, sponsored two policy panels for an event entitled "Big Beer Blitzes America: Is Anheuser-Busch too Powerful?" The panels correspond with new reports released by the NAF & AAI, and a recent article by Tim Heffernan regarding concentration of alcohol corporations, their influence on the U.S. alcohol market, and deregulation. According to Barry Lynn, senior NAF fellow, both big beer and big retail have recently unleashed a series of attacks on the independence of the middle tier of alcohol wholesalers and distributors. To watch the panels, click here. For the AJ report on the Big Beer duopoly, click here.
 
 

Special Journal: Health Status of American Indians & Alaska Natives

AJDAA

The September 2012 issue of The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse published a special edition focused exclusively on important issues surrounding alcohol and other substance use among American Indian and Alaska Native communities. The edition contains 24 papers based on research presented at the conference “Building Bridges: Advancing American Indian/Alaska Native Substance Abuse Research: A State of the Science and Grant Development Workshop,” sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). To see the full table of contents of the edition, click here.
 
 

SAFE-MA Honors Leaders & Advocates for Alcohol Ad Ban Victory

SAFE-MA

Supporting an Alcohol Ad-Free Environment in Massachusetts (SAFE-MA) sponsored a celebration this week to honor State Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey, former Governor Michael Dukakis and his wife Kitty, and the Allston-Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force youth coalition for their roles in banning alcohol advertisements from public transit. The SAFE-MA collaborative worked for years to ban alcohol advertisements from the MBTA, and their efforts succeeded with a ban that took effect in July 2012. In the coming year, AJ will continue working with SAFE-MA to pass a ban on alcohol ads on all state property in Massachusetts. Click here for more information on alcohol advertising on public transit.