Skip to main contentAs someone supposedly asked Hank Williams Jr.: Hank, why do you drink? (To get drunk.) Why do you roll smoke? (To get high.) But why would he come to the WW comments section? Odds are, it would be to complain all night long about the evils of vice taxes. Few prospects send our readers to the barricades like the thought of adding another dollar to the price of a beer at a Blazers game. Last week, WW wrote how a study conducted for the Oregon Health Authority, questioning the effectiveness of beer and wine taxes, relied on other studies funded by the alcohol industry (“Spiked Drink,” July 24). This news was about as popular with our readers as last call at Edgefield. Here’s what they had to say:
mutie, via wweek.com: “IMO:
“1. The OHA was wrong to withhold the report without explaining its reasons for doing so.
“2. The OHA was wrong to publish the report without adding at least some contextual information that explains the doubts cast on it by other researchers.
“Complaints from OHA that it had neither the time nor expertise to communicate in either of these situations is a little hard to believe. You don’t have to have every answer when you communicate; that’s not what “transparency” means. You do have to expose your decision-making process to scrutiny in a timely manner.
“I don’t fault OHA leaders for not knowing every detail of every action taken by subordinate managers. I do fault leadership for not setting a clear expectation down through their managerial ranks that openness and candor are core behaviors.”
minute57, via wweek.com: “Has the huge increase in grocery prices over the last few years made anyone eat less?”
Anita Bath, via wweek.com: “Not that booze is the exact equivalent of food, but it’s a valid point. Higher prices cause you to seek out new ways to consume, it doesnt deter you unless you make every beer $40 or something. In the case of younger people drinking, they will just stop drinking microbrews and start buying those crackhead Fireballs at Plaid Pantry or whatever. A tax isn’t going to make some kid suddenly say “wow, this beer is 20 cents more, I should go to AA,” it just makes everyone that much more miserable and mistrusting of the friendless HR people claiming to be our leaders.”
The Gal, via Twitter: “Taxes on liquor will not solve the problem. Nationally, there are 180K deaths a year from alcohol.”
Dan Jensen, via Facebook: “Name me one firm in Portland that supposedly does rigorous quantitative analysis, and I guarantee you I will find a significant methodological flaw with one of their recent reports. Having seen what passes as econometrics in supposedly leading Oregon grad programs, it’s not at all surprising either.”
Joanne DiGeso, via Twitter: “It’s so hard deciphering what is what when it comes to alcohol, health, and how to curb the negative affects of alcohol via taxation.”
JohnnyBlade99, via wweek.com: “In Japan, you go to a sporting event like a baseball game and the beer is $4.50. Here at a Blazers game it’s $14.”
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