Increase Massachusetts’ Alcoholic Beverage Excise Tax

BECAUSE, alcohol causes close to 178,000 deaths per year in the U.S., including deaths from motor vehicle crashes, homicide, poisonings, and falls caused by drinking; 

BECAUSE,  Massachusetts is in the top ten states regarding binge drinking, and alcohol caused close to 1 in 20 Bay State deaths in 2021, killing 3,050 people from poisonings, cancers, motor vehicle crashes, liver cirrhosis, and other causes;

BECAUSE,  in 2020, 32.4% of fatal crashes in Massachusetts involved drinking drivers compared to 28% of fatal crashes nationwide;

BECAUSE, binge drinking is most common among high-income people, and alcohol is a significant driver of inequities, causing more harm per drink consumed in poor and underserved communities than it does in wealthier ones;

BECAUSE,  Massachusetts’ alcohol excise taxes have lost 75% of their value over time since 1980, when they were last raised, and are now less than $.05 per drink; 

BECAUSE,  alcohol cost the state in 2010 (the last year for which estimates are available) $5.6 billion ($861 per person, $1.93 per drink), of which $2.26 billion ($345 per person, $.77 per drink) was paid directly by government;  

BECAUSE, the Community Preventive Services Task Force, which advises the CDC, and the World Health Organization both recommend increasing excise taxes on alcoholic beverages to combat the harmful use of alcohol;

BECAUSE,  Massachusetts levies a sales tax on most consumer products, but not on alcoholic beverages, despite the harms caused;   

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the undersigned organization supports increasing Massachusetts’ alcoholic beverage excise tax to reduce the health and safety harms and inequities caused by alcohol use.