Discus slams ‘bogus’ alcohol tax and STI study

Trade body the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States has branded a recent study aligning alcohol tax increases with lower sexually transmitted infection rates as “intellectually dishonest”.

Discus has criticised a recent study for being “intellectually dishonest”

Just this week, the University of Florida unveiled data that it claimed exemplified a link between higher taxes, which resulted in less heavy drinking, and, as such, less ‘risky’ sexual behaviour.

Looking at the state of Maryland, researchers said that in the 18 months after lawmakers increased alcohol taxes from 6% to 9%, there were 2,400 fewer statewide cases of gonorrhea.

However, Discus has hit out at the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, claiming that cases of many STIs “skyrocketed” in the cited time period.

“If the study authors’ theory were true, one would expect to see rates of all sexually transmitted infections decline, which clearly was not the case,” said Discus chief economist David Ozgo. “In fact, syphilis rates skyrocketed at the same time in Maryland following the tax increase.”

Ozgo claimed that he analysed the same data used by the study’s lead author, noting that in the same year that cases of gonorrhea declined following Maryland’s tax hikes, the state’s syphilis and chlamydia rates increased 26% and 4% respectively.

Ozgo also said that nearby states in the region, Delaware and Virginia, with no tax increases, showed ‘similar declines’ in gonorrhea rates the year the Maryland alcohol tax hike went into effect.

“These statistics show the intellectual dishonesty of this study and the ludicrous nature of these claims,” he added.

“This is not the first time these University of Florida researchers cherry-picked the data to fit their preconceived hypothesis. This is advocacy-driven research plain and simple.”

The University of Florida has not yet responded to The Spirits Business’s request for comment.