OPINION: Astonishingly low alcohol excise taxes are harming NM communities

Low-income, rural, Indigenous, and Hispanic New Mexicans disproportionately experience harms from alcohol. As public health and medical leaders again urge the Legislature to increase alcohol excise taxes to align our state’s tax code with that in other states, some have asked if doing so penalizes people who are already lower income, marginalized, or living with addiction. But this is a mischaracterization of what is happening; instead, it is our astonishingly low alcohol taxes that are already burdening our communities — particularly people who are low-income, rural, Indigenous, and Hispanic.

New Mexico has had the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths of all U.S. states since 1997. Excessive alcohol use harms through health problems such as liver disease and cancer, as well as through domestic violence, gun violence, homicide, suicide, and motor vehicle crashes. According to Department of Health reports, Hispanic males and Indigenous males and females are at particularly high risk for alcohol-related deaths. There are no genetic explanations for this increased risk — it is directly the result of public policy, and that is why public policy solutions are needed urgently to help.

Current alcohol excise taxes for most beer, wine, and spirits in New Mexico range from 4-7 cents per standard drink. Legislation under discussion would increase taxes by 25 cents per drink. The tax on a serving of beer would increase from 4 cents to 29 cents. For a six-pack, taxes would increase by $1.50 (6 x $0.25 = $1.50). This increase would neither result in prohibition nor make the restaurants and bars go bankrupt. But, what good it would do is quite remarkable.

First, raising alcohol excise taxes would generate substantial revenue to fund treatment and prevention, approximately $250 million annually. New Mexicans with alcohol use disorder face many barriers to care and often have to travel to other states for care. The revenue would be used for alcohol prevention and treatment programs designed for people at highest risk for harm from alcohol, such as those in rural areas and who are disadvantaged.

Second, raising alcohol excise taxes by 25 cents per drink would reduce alcohol consumption by about 10% and consequently reduce alcohol-related harms. There are years of public health and medical evidence to support this. Common sense alcohol policies have been shown to protect against alcohol-related homicide, crime, motor vehicle crashes, and liver disease, and increasing the price of alcohol through excise taxes is one of the most effective ways to do this. For example, alcohol pricing policies have led to decreased deaths in Alaska, decreased motor vehicle crashes in Maryland, and decreased hospital admissions in Scotland.

Third, raising alcohol taxes by even this small amount could help deter youth use, car crashes, and crime — which we all agree is a good idea, and is sorely needed. Young people are experiencing a mental health crisis, and we should fund mental health programs instead of offering low taxes that effectively subsidize the alcohol industry at the expense of their mental health.

We have an unprecedented opportunity before us — that of enacting a policy that will save lives and could reduce health care costs. If we do not act, how can we expect this to change? We implore legislators to increase alcohol excise taxes by 25 cents per standard drink. Not doing so penalizes our communities.

Marlene C. Lira is a substance use researcher and the director of research at Workit Health. Dr. Eileen Barrett is a rural internal medicine physician and substance use disorder treatment researcher.