Seven Challenges to Big Alcohol’s Power in 2014

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Created: Wednesday, January 08 2014 16:24

An Invitation to Join the Fight with Alcohol Justice from
Bruce Lee Livingston, Executive Director/CEO
 

Bruce Lee Livingston, Executive Director/CEO

Big Alcohol profits megabucks from a lack of transparency. Big Alcohol is a term for the most powerful alcohol corporations of the world, increasingly merging into a concentrated few. Most Americans have little idea of the true size and scope of the global businesses behind the brand names, let alone the way their practices endanger public health and safety.

Globally, alcohol consumption causes an estimated 2.5 million deaths every year. It is the most harmful drug to both drinkers and nondrinkers. Alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 80,000 deaths annually. More than 4,700 people under age 21 die annually from injuries caused by drinking alcohol. Alcohol use is associated with physical and sexual assault, unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, violence, vandalism, crime, overdose, other substance use, and high-risk behavior.

Yet global players like Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller and Molson Coors, (operating as MillerCoors in the U.S.), Diageo, Pernod Ricard, and Constellation Brands inflict more than $223.5 billion dollars of alcohol-related harm annually in the U.S. with virtually no accountability for their actions. Wall Street is seriously chatting up the idea of a $100 billion merger of A-B InBev with MillerCoors to control about 75% of all beer sales in America. Alcohol producers and their trade association/front groups including DISCUS, Wine Institute, and American Beverage Institute use aggressive lobbying practices to kill or roll back alcohol regulations, proliferate youth-enticing marketing, and, of course, push a drug that hurts or kills many with immediate, chronic, and/or addictive results.

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NYC Budget Office: Alcohol Tax Increase Would Net $49 Million Annually

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Created: Wednesday, December 11 2013 16:40

New York City's Independent Budget Office has suggested an increase on the city's alcohol excise tax, last raised in 1980. The IBO's report estimates the tax would generate an additional $49 million annually for the city's coffers. Due to inflation erosion, the value of the city's beer and spirits tax is now only one-third of its 1980 value. The adjustment would include an increase on beer from $0.12/gallon to $0.34/gallon, and spirits from $1.00/gallon to $2.80/gallon. Wine products, which currently aren't taxed, would be levied at $0.30/gallon. Raising alcohol excise taxes is also the single most effective intervention for reducing alcohol related-harm from excessive consumption, including vehicle crashes, violence, and disease, making the proposition a win-win for the city.