
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 20, 1994                   TAG: 9411020019
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOOD TAXES

VIRGINIA'S BOURBON-and-branch tradition is losing much of its old glow. Not that the entire citizenry has gone on the wagon, but Virginians are drinking less and less hard liquor - bourbon, Scotch, vodka, gin, name your poison - as, it seems, are tipplers in other states.

The drop in sales at the state's ABC stores - from nearly 10 million gallons to about 7 million gallons a year in the past decade, despite population growth - is attributed to three things: tougher drunken-driving laws, more health consciousness and social disapproval, and higher taxes on booze.

Concerning the latter, Virginia's taxes are substantially higher than the national average: 59 cents on a typical 750-milliliter bottle, compared with 44 cents nationally. Adding on federal levies, this means Virginians pay about $5.54 in taxes on a typical $9.35 bottle of spirited contents.

That's just fine. If the higher taxes, combined with some of the strictest anti-drunken-driving laws of any state, mean that Virginians are imbibing less hard stuff, it should also mean fewer alcohol-related diseases, accidents and death. A good trade-off, most would agree.

But, meantime, the state continues to subsidize another dangerous habit, which is a bigger killer than alcohol.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, alcohol kills some 100,000 Americans annually. But cigarette smoking accounts for 400,000 deaths per year - an astounding, horrific number. Combined federal, state and local excise taxes on cigarettes do not come anywhere close to paying for the addiction's costs in medical expenses and lost productivity.

Which is simply to remind the General Assembly that Virginia's tobacco tax remains the lowest in the nation. Yes, it's one of our vintage whines - but about 25 percent of medical costs in Virginia are related to smoking; and adolescents (who make up almost entirely the ranks of new smokers) are the most sensitive to higher cigarette prices.

Higher taxes have reduced the death toll from alcohol. They could do the same for tobacco. As such, the absence of courage to raise cigarette taxes to a life-saving level is a source of guilt for Virginia lawmakers, and should be a source of shame.

by CNB