Study: Alcohol tax could lower traffic deaths in state

Higher taxes on beer, wine and hard liquor could lower Montana’s high rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths, a new study indicates.

“Not surprisingly, traffic fatalities are linked to both alcohol prices and alcohol consumption, and these relationships have been extensively studied,” Montana State University economist Doug Young found in his recently published study.

“The weight of the evidence is that higher alcohol prices reduce consumption and fatalities.”

Montana, of course, has little control over alcohol pricing, but it does have some because tax rates do affect prices.

“A doubling of the state tax on beer would be expected to reduce consumption by 0.5 (percent) to 1.5 percent,” Young wrote. “A doubling of wine and spirits taxes would be expected to reduce consumption of these beverages by 5 (percent) and 9 (percent) to 10 percent, respectively.”

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