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Youth Alcopops Initiative
Alcopops Legislation
Alcopops Lawsuit

Reclassifying Alcopops as
Distilled Spirits in Your State


In California, we were able to estimate the enormous costs of underage alcopop consumption. We used this data to educate policymakers, the media, and others. Now we have made similar estimates for the other 27 states where current law indicates that alcopops should be classified as distilled spirits. Doing so would make these products less available to youth (depending on the state law), either by removing them from grocery and convenience stores, raising the taxes (and hence prices), or both.


The Cost of Underage Alcopop Consumption

State

Money

Deaths

Incidents

of Harm*

Arizona

$219,090,000

11

10,797

Arkansas

$116,140,000

6

4,275

Colorado

$207,870,000

10

8,555

Connecticut

$104,880,000

5

4,056

Delaware

$29,020,000

2

1,053

Florida

$623,000,000

30

23,857

Hawaii

$36,000,000

2

1,796

Idaho

$38,500,000

2

1,456

Iowa

$98,390,000

5

3,722

Kansas

$109,140,000

6

4,210

Kentucky

$105,370,000

5

4,036

Louisiana

$184,510,000

10

7,302

Maryland

$210,730,000

9

7,501

Massachusetts

$238,900,000

11

8,151

Michigan

$342,600,000

16

12,960

Mississippi

$90,350,000

4

3,418

Nebraska

$75,580,000

4

2,761

Nevada

$86,380,000

4

3,853

New Jersey

$246,820,000

13

9,853

New York

$548,560,000

24

20,121

North Carolina

$207,090,000

10

7,834

Ohio

$449,950,000

21

17,021

Oklahoma

$131,500,000

7

5,203

Rhode Island

$28,810,000

1

1,223

South Dakota

$59,370,000

5

1,636

Texas

$877,430,000

39

37,801

 

* Harms include traffic accidents, suicides, violence, poisonings and fetal alcohol syndrome, among others.
 
Calculations are based on:
Miller, T.R, Levy, D.T., Spicer, R.S., Taylor, D.M., Societal Costs of Underage Drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 67: 519-528, 2006.
 
Miller, T.R, Levy, D.T., Spicer, R.S., Taylor, D.M., State Underage Drinking Costs Factsheets Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation , 2007.
 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. 2002.

Taxes Work: The European Model >>

Alcopops FAQ >>

 


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