The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

NCADD Action Alert

Beer Industry Asks Congress to Roll Back Federal Beer Excise Tax

MAY 2, 2002

The National Beer Wholesalers Association is spearheading H.R. 1305 through the House of Representatives, which is a bill to roll back the federal beer excise tax to its pre-1951 level. Since that time, the beer excise tax has been increased only once, in 1991. The bill has been referred to the House committee.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

NCADD Affiliates, Board Members and all other interested Americans, should contact their Representatives and let them know how alcohol has affected their life and community. Please note that all mail and all packages sent to all offices of all branches of government are now being screened for biological contamanints and other dangerous materials, due to the mail contamination by Anthrax in 2001. Mail to members of the House of Representatives and US Senate is included in this screening process. To ensure quickiest reciept of your correspondence, include your return address, use a mailing label or type the envelope, and mail in plenty of time. Or, you may want to telephone your Representative to find out how his/her office prefers to recieve correspondence from contstituents. To find your Representative's phone number, call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202/224-3121. Or look up your Representative's regional offices and email address on the official website of the House of Representatives (www.house.gov). IMPORTANT POINTS TO MAKE: Today, the beer tax amounts to $18 per 31-gallon barrel, or approximately 33 cents per six-pack. Had the tax kept up with inflation since 1951, the rate today would be more than $50 per barrel, or more than a dollar a six-pack. The industry is asking the U.S. Congress to reduce the federal excise tax on beer by 50 percent from its current level, to a proposed 15 cents per six-pack. ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSING THE BILL INCLUDE: National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives (NAGHSR) The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SUPPORTS MAINTAINING OR INCREASING THE FEDERAL BEER EXCISE TAX: A national poll found that 77% of all Americans believe that a beer tax cut would benefit the beer industry more than consumers. When told that the average American who drinks beer consumes only about two beers a week, and pays around 11 cents per week in national beer tax, 86% of drinkers did not think this was too high a burden, even for moderate drinkers. THE COST TO YOUTH: Alcohol kills 6.5 times more young Americans than all other illicit drugs combined An estimated 1,400 college students (aged 18-24) die, 500,000 are injured, more than 70,000 are sexually assaulted and 400,000 engage in unprotected sex while under the influence of alcohol each year. THE COST TO SOCIETY: Alcohol problems cost the United States more than $184 billion in 1998 in health care, criminal justice, social services, property damages, and loss of productivity expenses. Alcohol is a factor in as many as 105,000 deaths annually in the United States and a primary contributor to a wide array of health problems and human suffering. These include various cancers, liver disease, alcoholism, brain disorders, motor vehicle crashes, violence, crime, spousal and child abuse, drowning, and suicides. The fact is, the federal beer excise tax amounts to less than 7% of the average price of a six-pack. Additional information is available on the NCADD website: Policy Statement on Excise Taxes.

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 phone: 212/269-7797   fax: 212/269-7510 email: national@ncadd.org   http://www.ncadd.org HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)