PETERS: If alcohol is as unhealthy as tobacco, it should be taxed like tobacco

Recommending complete abstinence actually makes a lot more sense than some kind of limit.

If something’s bad for you, why would scientists and health professionals recommend you partake in only a little bit of it?

Should you lick only one escalator railing per week? No. You should lick no escalator railings, ever.

A suggestion of a limited booze intake was deemed so laughable by many Canadians, they refused to even consider it.

But the lab coats are doing exactly what they should — give the rest of us all the information possible about what’s good for us and what isn’t.

How individual Canadians respond to that information in their daily lives is up to them.

How should governments respond to this information? Here’s an even less popular suggestion: raise taxes on alcohol.

If we agree that alcohol is in the same category as, say, tobacco in that it’s something a lot of people enjoy but is objectively harmful to their health, that means it’s going to put extra strain on our universal healthcare system.

The people who are spending on it should pump some extra revenue into the coffers.

Provincial taxes on cigarettes amount to more than $6.50 per pack of 20. Just last year, the provincial government made PST applicable to tobacco.

On alcohol, a provincial sales tax of 10 per cent is already charged. That’s already higher than the 7 per cent PST on most items.

Based on this most recent health guidance and, based on what we already know about the amount of alcohol-related illnesses and injuries our health system already sees, that tax could be even higher.

Raising a tax for every time you raise a glass won’t be popular, but it seems to be warranted.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by James Peters

PETERS: If alcohol is as unhealthy as tobacco, it should be taxed like tobacco

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