The taxes were raised because of fears that the drinks were primarily appealing to young drinkers. In 2000, Switzerland imported just 2 million bottles of alcopops in 2000, but that jumped to 39 million bottles in 2002. However, last year just 16 million bottles were imported. "Sales dropped by half last year," said Toni Schneider of Heineken. A leading Swiss supermarket chain, Coop, concurred, noting that alcopops have become less trendy.

Swiss Alcohol Board spokesman Marc Huber said of the tax: "It has fulfilled its aim, to slow consumption by young people."

Alcohol distributors have tried to get around the tax by marketing drinks with lower sugar content and powdered versions of alcopops.

Editor's Note: Increasing alcohol prices through taxes to prevent underage drinking is one of Join Together's "10 Drug and Alcohol Policies That Will Save Lives".

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