SACRAMENTO - August 15, 2007 In a 3-to-2 vote, the California State Board of Equalization decided to put the safety of young people above the interests of the alcohol industry by agreeing to properly tax alcopops as distilled spirits. Those sugary-sweet, mixed drinks in a bottle such as Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice are popular among underage youth. But it was young people who had the loudest voices in recent weeks.
Calling on the BOE with a petition and thousands of postcards, these youth advocates banded together to support the re-classification effort. At a hearing Tuesday at the Board of Equalization, these young people delivered the thousands of letters to BOE members showing their support of the re-classification effort. Now, they stand together to thank the BOE for protecting young people.
Before this historic vote, alcopops were marketed and sold as beer instead of distilled spirits, although they contain distilled alcohol.
"When I first heard about alcopops, and I learned about the effects of this unacceptable product, I knew I had to join the fight to reclassify these dangerous drinks," said Kellie Goodwin, 17, a California Youth Council member. "We thank the BOE for their brave efforts because reclassification of alcopops will help fight underage drinking, and generate millions of extra tax money that our state could use for California kids. Most important, this is a great victory because if we could save just one life, isn't it worth it?"
Now that the Board of Equalization will tax alcopops and other beverages that contain distilled spirits as distilled spirits instead of beer, the state could collect more than $40 million per year in tax revenues. Beer is taxed at 20 cents a gallon where as distilled spirits are taxed at $3.30 a gallon.
Recent reports from the Marin Institute indicate California's youth consume 47 percent of all alcopops sold in California, which translates to a cost of $1.25 billion annually for the state in terms of lost productivity, harm and other negative consequences of underage drinking. Additionally, the report found alcopops were linked to 60 deaths every year.
"The BOE must be commended for their leadership role on this issue," said Scott Dickey, an attorney with the San Francisco-based Public Law Group, which has provided pro bono assistance since 2005 in the effort to re-classify alcopops in California. "Up until now, alcopop manufacturers have gotten away with a cynical manipulation of California's alcoholic beverage laws, mischaracterizing their products - which derive most of their alcoholic content from distilled spirits - as though they were beer to permit them to be sold cheaply and broadly throughout the state. The BOE's decision is a big step forward in holding alcopop manufacturers accountable for this deception."
In California, underage drinkers consume 12.4 percent of all alcohol sold in the state-or about $2.3 billion. These sales provided profits of $1.1 billion to the alcohol industry. Underage drinking costs the state in excess of $7 billion annually. Besides the financial implications, the threats to public health and safety include alcohol-related youth violence and traffic crashes.
An American Medical Association study found that alcopops are particularly popular among teen girls, and that the marketing of these products reaches deeply into the underage population. According to the AMA, while underage drinking decreased in the last few decades, alcopops consumption is on the rise among girls. Another study last year showed that 78 percent of 8th graders who drink regularly consume alcopops. This percentage declines as the drinkers get older, showing the popularity of alcopops to young palates.
The California Coalition on Alcopops and Youth is a diverse, broad-based group of individuals and community-based organizations who have joined together to help contain the growing problem of underage drinking, in general and specifically "alcopops." The Coalition is spearheading an advocacy campaign to raise the awareness of underage drinking with a focus on the role that alcohol advertising and marketing plays in contributing to the problem.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please call Michelle Blackston at (301) 523-9921.
