Significant increases in alcohol and tobacco taxes are among the most effective policies
governments have for improving public health. Higher alcohol taxes reduce the prevalence,
frequency, and intensity of drinking,
1
as well as the traffic crashes, liver cirrhosis, violence, and other health and social
consequences of harmful drinking.
2
Likewise, increases in tobacco taxes promote cessation among adult users, prevent
young people from taking up tobacco use, and reduce the death, disease, and economic
consequences caused by tobacco.
3
At the same time, increased taxes raise new revenues that can be used to support
alcohol- and tobacco-control programs and other health promotion efforts, adding to
their positive public health impact.
3
,
4
However, governments in the U.S. and elsewhere often fail to maximize the public
health benefits of alcohol and tobacco taxes, while drinkers, smokers, and other tobacco
users use various strategies to avoid these taxes. The papers by Kerr and colleagues
5
and Xu and colleagues
6
in this issue illustrate these problems.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Effects of beverage alcohol price and tax levels on drinking: a meta-analysis of 1003 estimates from 112 studies.Addiction. 2009; 104: 179-190
- Effects of alcohol tax and price policies on morbidity and mortality: a systematic review.Am J Public Health. 2010; 100: 2270-2278
- IARC handbooks of cancer prevention, tobacco control, Volume 14: the effectiveness of tax and price policies for tobacco control.IARC, Lyon, France2011
- The impact of a 25-cent-per-drink alcohol tax increase.Am J Prev Med. 2012; 42: 382-389
- U.S. alcohol affordability and real tax rates, 1950–2011.Am J Prev Med. 2013; 44: 459-464
- Cigarette price-minimization strategies by U.S. Smokers.Am J Prev Med. 2013; 44: 472-476
- The effects of prices on alcohol use and its consequences.Alcohol Res Health. 2011; 34: 236-245
- WHO technical manual on tobacco tax administration.WHO, Geneva, Switzerland2010
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© 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- U.S. Alcohol Affordability and Real Tax Rates, 1950–2011American Journal of Preventive MedicineVol. 44Issue 5
- Cigarette Price-Minimization Strategies by U.S. SmokersAmerican Journal of Preventive MedicineVol. 44Issue 5
