Study: As alcohol taxes go up, deaths go down

By Lisa Demer

"One way to stop so many people from being killed by diseases linked to alcohol abuse? Higher taxes on alcohol."

"That's the conclusion of a new study about two Alaska alcohol tax increases that is getting national attention..."

"The new study by researchers with the University of Florida relied on more than 100 earlier studies that found when the price of alcohol goes up, people generally drink less. They didn't investigate whether that happened in Alaska..."

"After Alaska's 1983 tax increase -- just a dime per gallon of beer or wine, and $1.50 on a gallon of hard liquor -- deaths dropped 29 percent, they said. After a much bigger 2002 increase, deaths dropped 11 percent, the study found..."

Full article available at http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/588664.html