San Francisco, CA - The deaths of 21 California youths could be prevented each year if the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) votes to correctly tax alcopops as distilled spirits instead of beer. This is just one of a number of dramatic findings made public Wednesday as Marin Institute released its report The Cost of Alcopops to Youth and California.

"Underage drinkers consume 47% of all the alcopops sold in California," said Michele Simon, JD, MPH, Research and Policy Director and co-author of the study with Simon Rosen, both from Marin Institute. "By correctly taxing alcopops as distilled spirits, we could see a 35% decrease in the number of youth drinking alcopops."

The report also finds that proper taxation of alcopops would save the State $437 million annually by reducing incidences of harm, such as traffic accidents, violent crime, high-risk sex, and fetal alcohol syndrome. 

Alcopops are sweetened alcoholic beverages that are often bubbly and fruit-flavored, closely resembling soda or energy drinks. Called "cocktails on training wheels" they derive much of their alcohol from distilled spirits and are often branded with spirit names such as "Smirnoff Ice." Industry, however, calls them "flavored malt beverages" so that they can be taxed at the relatively low beer rate, making them less expensive to purchase and available wherever beer is sold.

Thanks to a government petition filed by two youth groups, California Friday Night Live Partnership and California Youth Council, three BOE board members (Betty Yee, Judy Chu and State Controller John Chiang) voted to consider reclassifying alcopops as distilled spirits. All five members of the BOE will make a decision on proper alcopops taxation on August 14. The results of such a change, as the Marin Institute report details, could save lives and money.

"By a simple majority vote, the BOE could save the lives of 21 youths each year in California," said Bruce Livingston, MPP, Executive Director of Marin Institute. "Big alcohol companies want to have alcopops taxed cheaply as beer for the youth market, but they don't want it to be called beer or taste like beer. It's time for BOE to close that tax loophole and save kid's lives."

Participants at the event included:

• State Senator Carole Migden (D–San Francisco)
• James Loyce, Marin Institute Board Chair
• Anna Damiani, Assembly Member Mark Leno's Office
• Mitchell Katz, M.D., Director, SF Dept. of Public Health
• Eric Mar, SF Board of Education
• John Rizzo, SF Community College District
• Kim-Shree Maufus and Emily Murase, SF Dept. on the Status of Women
• Melissa Padilla and Eileen Li, Girls Committee, SF Dept. on the Status of Women
• Melissa Henriquez, Sonoma State University (nursing student)
• Capt. Gary Jiminez, SF Police Dept.
• Joan Kiley, Alcohol Policy Network
• Jennifer Reich, San Francisco Bay Girl Scout Council
• Stephanie Martinez, YouthAlive!

Also in attendance were SF Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi (Dist. 5), Public Law Group, EPIC (Environmental Prevention in Communities), the Adopt-An-Alleyway project (AAA) of the Chinatown Community Development Center, Youth Leadership Institute, BAYCAT (Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts & Technology), CommPre (Community Prevention of Alcohol-Related Problems), and representatives from Santa Clara County.

"We're going to continue to be vigilant on this issue," said State Senator Carole Migden (D–San Francisco), who spoke passionately about the dangers of marketing alcopops to underage girls. "I hope that we can move forward, hand in hand, to stop teen girls from being targeted by alcohol companies." 

For additional information see www.marininstitute.org