The recent proposal to increase the beer tax may give hope to improving the binge-drinking problem here at UW-Madison. Binge drinking has been one of the most frustrating problems confronted by the Wisconsin government and UW-Madison officials. Although the school is one of the top 10 public schools in the nation, it is also the country's number two party school, according to the Princeton Review.
UW-Madison has put forth a lot of effort to tackle the problem in recent years. Since 1996, UW has spent more than $700,000 to launch a project attacking the drinking problem among college students. This project included informing students of the health and safety risks of binge drinking, as well as helping to bring about initiatives to include a new citywide keg registration law. There are also more activities for students, such as extended hours at the university's athletic facilities and one alcohol-free football tailgate party. But after four years, although there is increased awareness of the dangers of binge drinking, the percentage of students binge drinking remains as high as 66 percent.
This shows the effort has not been enough to tackle the problem. But with Rep. Therese Berceau's, D-Madison, recent proposal of a beer tax increase, there is hope for improvement. The proposed increase is two cents per six-pack of beer to fund an alcohol abuse treatment program. Increasing tax on beer is the most direct and efficient way to address the problem because beer is the most popular choice of alcoholic beverages among students.
Opponents have decried another tax increase. Bob Delaponte, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, says there are already too many well-intended tax increases, leading Wisconsin to become one of the top 10 states in taxes. But this beer tax increase is worthwhile as many studies have shown that it will lower consumption among students. According to the National Tax Journal, the price of beer will cause some youths to abstain and others to cut back their alcohol consumption. This may be because most students do not have a stable, full-time income yet, so the price will be a heavy determining factor of how many bottles of beer they can consume.
Increasing the beer tax has other important benefits. A lot of studies show that imposing an increase in beer tax will decrease the rate of reckless behaviors related to high alcohol consumption such as unsafe sex and drunk driving. A simple tax increase, therefore, can save a lot of innocent lives. For example, researcher F.J. Chaloupka and his colleagues estimated that doubling the federal beer tax would save 1,744 lives per year.
The situation is quite similar to other sin taxes like cigarettes. According to a study done by SmokeLess States National Tobacco Policy Initiative, increasing the cigarette tax by 10 percent will lead to a 6.5 percent drop in youth smokers. Between 1994 and 1999, relatively large tax increases were implemented in 16 states, and all 16 witnessed declines in cigarette consumption each year. Youths were also more susceptible to price changes and were less likely to take up the habit because they may not have the money to do so.
Some UW-Madison officials, like spokesperson John Lucas and Susan Crowley, director of Policy Alternative Community Education, have echoed worries about whether the tax will get into treatment programs to help UW-Madison students suffering from alcohol abuse. But the beer tax increase can still be implemented so that fewer students will suffer from it. This will decrease the amount of money spent for treatments. Seeing the success of an increased cigarette tax on reducing consumption, especially among youth, and the results of studies that found increasing the beer tax effective in combating binge drinking, it is worth trying to benefit Wisconsin.
