Speaker, panel highlight alcohol tax, underage drinking


Nationally recognized speaker Dr. David Jernigan addressed a crowd on Sept. 26 at the National Motorcycle Museum on the effects of increasing the beer tax. A panel also fielded some questions as well. From left are moderator Karmen Jamison, Dr. Jernigan, Sen. Tod Bowman, Rep. Andy McKean, Jones County Public Health Director Jenna Lovaas, and Delaware County Public Health Director Delma Hardin. (Photo by Kim Brooks)
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     The theme of the evening on Sept. 26 was “prevention.”

     The Jones County Safe and Healthy Youth Coalition hosted nationally known speaker, Dr. David Jernigan, at the National Motorcycle Museum. He spoke about the impact the State of Maryland has seen since increasing the beer excise tax in 2011.

     The event was titled: “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.”

     Also present was Sen. Tod Bowman, Rep. Andy McKean, and Jones and Delaware counties’ public health officials Jenna Lovaas and Delma Hardin. This panel fielded questions on what the State of Iowa could do if it increased the excise tax and tackling substance abuse and mental health issues, which go hand-in-hand.

     Jernigan stipulated that an alcohol policy “is completely a non-partisan issue.

     “Everybody is affected by alcohol use; everybody has skin in this game,” said Jernigan.

     He said of his many years working with legislators to create change where alcohol and substance abuse is concerned, he’s been able to work across party lines.

     Globally, Jernigan said alcohol causes 3.3 million deaths a year.

     “That’s six deaths every minute,” calculated Jernigan to bring the statistic to light.

     He said the biggest difference between alcohol and tobacco use is that “alcohol kills and disables at such a younger age.”

     Jernigan said so many global issues stem from alcohol use and abuse: 22 percent of suicides, 15 percent of traffic accidents, 30 percent of mouth/throat cancer, 25 percent of pancreatitis, 10 percent of colorectal cancer, 8 percent of breast cancer (15 percent in the U.S. alone), and 8 percent of heart disease.

     While many have read that moderate drinking is good for the heart, Jernigan said that would be true if the heart were only organ in the body. Every organ is affected by drinking alcohol.

     “There is no safe level for consumption for alcohol when it comes to cancers,” said Jernigan. “Your level of risk goes up the minute that you start to drink.”

     To that affect, a third of all cancer cases involve those people who consume less than a drink and a half a day.

     Alcohol is the number-one cause of death and disability, according to the World Health Organization, between the ages of 15 and 49. “Number one all over the world,” Jernigan reinforced.

     In the U.S., that amounts to 8,000 deaths a year. “This is one in 10 deaths for people of working age,” he said. “That’s what alcohol, causes.”

     Jernigan said funding million-dollar underage drinking and binge drinking prevention campaigns are not the answer. In his research, increasing the excise tax is the answer.

     “That’s probably the single most effective thing we can do to reduce alcohol problems across the board,” he said.

     The range of beer excise taxes in the U.S. per gallon is $1.29 to 2 cents. Iowa’s beer tax is 19 cents per gallon, and ranks 31st out of the 50 states.

     Since prohibition, Jernigan said alcohol tax has gone from 9 percent down to less than .4 percent of the total federal budget.

     He said evidence has shown that if you raise the price of alcohol, consumption declines for the general population, including among teens and heavy/binge drinkers.

     “In this sense, alcohol is a common commodity, price goes up, people will drink less,” said Jernigan.

     In essence, those who drink the most will end up paying the most tax.

     Jernigan said in Maryland, the increase in excise tax was used to help fund substance abuse/mental health treatment, prevention, and law enforcement.

     Addressing the panel, moderator Karmen Jamison asked if increasing the alcohol tax in Iowa would benefit Iowa.

     “A modest tax increase on the beer tax would be very beneficial,” offered Rep. McKean. He said it would ultimately reduce alcohol consumption, and the tax increase would be geared toward those who are abusing alcohol the most.

     However, McKean added, “Anytime you talk about any kind of tax increase in the Iowa legislature, you are destined to have a lot of negative response.” But, he said this stance has certainly been driven by the public, not the legislature, which might help in the end.

Sen. Bowman said this is not the first time the idea of raising the excise tax has been brought to his attention. “We need to try to make an impact with treatment. The more prevention and treatment you have, the less you have to spend in the big picture of things,” he said.

     While underage drinking figures have gone down in Iowa, Jamison asked if youth would end up using/abusing other substances.

     Hardin said in Delaware County, they are not seeing a switch toward other substances.

     “Is it because students are spending more time on social media?” she asked as to why there is a downward trend. “Are they spending more time on their phones and no longer socializing with groups?” She said all these and more could be contributions toward the decline.

     Lovaas said Jones County is showing the same trend with underage drinking. She said kids are reporting the disapproval from their parents and peers as one of the reasons behind this decline. She said lack of socialization with groups, echoing Hardin’s sentiments, might also be a reason.

     For more on the efforts of the Coalition, visit their website at www.jonescountycoalition.org.

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