Come Mr. Tax Man, Tax Me Pinot Noir

How the New York Times and I can support higher taxes on alcohol

I think I’m one of the few people working in the alcohol industry that is not categorically opposed to higher taxes on alcohol.

And I have company in the form of the New York Times, which recently released an “opinion video” advocating for higher taxes on alcohol. In the introduction to the video they describe America as having a “quieter drug epidemic that has been unfolding for a lot longer” than the opioid epidemic:

The NY Times’ argument is the same as the prevention community's argument: higher taxes on booze save lives and in many places the alcohol tax hasn’t been raised in decades.

I’m not convinced higher taxes will do much to save lives. Some studies show it will. Other studies show that folks just drink less expensive alcohol.