Considering alcohol in Colorado
There has been a stark rise in alcohol-related deaths in Colorado, as highlighted in a comprehensive Denver Post investigation. Colorado’s response to these numbers has been marked by legislative inaction and societal indifference, and it contrasts sharply with the robust response to the opioid epidemic, particularly fentanyl. It raises significant questions about our collective responsibility and the measures needed to combat this growing threat.
Initially, I was inclined to align with Gov. Polis’s perspective on drinking as a matter of personal responsibility. However, reading the numbers while writing this piece is making me question that stance. We have had a relatively soft stance on alcohol, for example, with the recent expansion of alcohol access to supermarkets. Perhaps we’ve been underestimating alcohol’s societal impact and overlooking the complex interplay of factors contributing to alcohol misuse, including social isolation exacerbated by the pandemic, economic stress, mental health struggles, and the pervasive culture of drinking. It might be insufficient to label alcohol misuse solely as a personal failing without acknowledging the broader societal and structural factors that facilitate this crisis.
The significant discrepancy in tax revenue between alcohol and marijuana in Colorado highlights a missed opportunity for public health funding. With alcohol taxes being among the lowest and alcoholrelated deaths among the highest in the nation, it is clear that the state’s fiscal policy does not reflect the gravity of the alcohol crisis.
Yet, addressing this issue extends beyond fiscal policy. It requires a comprehensive cultural shift and a reevaluation of how society normalizes and facilitates heavy drinking. This shift must include increased public awareness campaigns, more accessible and affordable treatment options, and community support systems to counteract the isolation that has been both a cause and effect of the pandemic’s surge in alcohol misuse. Moreover, local initiatives, particularly in communities like Boulder, can play a pivotal role in spearheading change. For example, implementing city-level policies that limit alcohol sales hours and the density of liquor stores.
Colorado’s alarming rate of alcohol-related deaths is not just a public health issue but a societal crisis that calls for immediate, comprehensive action.
Hernán Villanueva, chvillanuevap@gmail.com
Colorado has one of the highest rates of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. How sad that our state might be known for healthy lifestyles — and also for not doing enough to reduce preventable deaths.
But what a complicated subject. Even as I reread the Denver Post’s series “Colorado’s Quiet Killer,” I was enjoying a French wine tasting on Zoom with my travel hero, Rick Steves. Wine and beer are almost as ancient as bread. What’s gotten out of balance and can we fix it? “It takes a series of environmental factors, genetics, and social pressures to make someone pour a drink. And another. And another.
Some we can’t control, but plenty we can,” says Prof. David Jernigan of Boston University’s School of Public Health. The data is solid: Regarding alcohol, health statistics improve if people are nudged toward slightly different consumption habits.
It’s a simple formula: fewer places to buy alcohol + fewer hours that it’s sold + higher prices (through increased taxes) = lower rates of crime, accidents, chronic illness and death. However, we continue to expand access to alcohol in Colorado and our low alcohol taxes haven’t changed in decades. It would be a tough sell politically, but I’d support raising taxes and also cracking down on advertising. Though the alcohol industry pledged not to show ads in media where young people are more than 28.4% of the audience, it’s voluntary and adherence is poor (surprise surprise); the industry knows ads prime young brains to think drinking is a positive and essential activity.
One of the things that struck me most in the Post series was the idea of stigma. Meg Wingerter interviewed teens who said there was stigma if they didn’t drink along with their peers; then stigma was reported later in life by adults ashamed to reveal their struggles and get help. These two stigmas are tragically interconnected. The earlier a person starts drinking, the more likely they’ll develop an alcohol use disorder later on.
Social norms can change — the history of tobacco proves it. More thoughtfulness about consumption might help all of us reach a healthier relationship with alcohol. Personally, I didn’t attempt “dry January” but I’m aiming for a less-wet 2024. I want to do it for the younger generation. Today’s kids who drink excessively may become the adults in the future who don’t live the healthy, long and productive lives they deserve.
Diane Schwemm, parksidediane@gmail.com
To address this worrying trend we should additionally tax sales of alcohol like we tax sales of sugar-sweetened beverages in Boulder. With concerns about rising obesity and diabetes, many Boulderites put in a lot of work to get that tax measure — a levy of 2 cents per fluid ounce — on the ballot in 2016. A comparably-scaled tax could be introduced as a similar matter of public health concern. The design of this sugar-sweetened beverages tax is a recent and analogous model waiting to be operationalized for this set of challenges.
This is not a panacea, of course. Several studies conducted across seven U.S. cities that introduced a tax on sugary drinks have found successes as well as shortcomings. On the upside, findings pointed to financial cost savings for health care, along with decreases in consumption in these places where the tax has been imposed. In terms of downsides, these taxes are effectively regressive — they have larger financial implications for lowincome individuals, like those who do not have the means to travel someplace nearby to purchase alcohol without this tax — and the tax burdens some members in our community more than others. Nonetheless, this tax could be a decisive response to deploy in coordination with other efforts and services that address the root causes and consequences of alcohol-related deaths. This tax can readily serve as a positive intervention, raising revenue for treatments while also addressing health concerns.
Just two months ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global call to tax alcohol. The WHO put this into context by noting that 2.6 million individuals die each year around the world from alcohol consumption. The WHO focus is at the country level, noting that high taxes in countries like Singapore have been shown to decrease consumption and lead to better health outcomes over time. However, at the community level, Boulder can jump to action more quickly and effectively than a national-level initiative, as residents in have experienced alcohol-related deaths at some of the highest rates in the country. With expected pushback from powerful purveyors of alcohol, the most efficient pathway forward can begin with community-level ballot measure action. I hope leaders and community members have already been connecting these dots and are planning such action.
Max Boykoff, mboykoff@gmail.com