New Mexico has the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the United States, with nearly 2,000 lives lost annually due to alcohol. Despite clear evidence that increasing alcohol taxes reduces population-level alcohol use and related harm, state lawmakers abandoned an evidence-based alcohol policy measure, House Bill 417, under pressure from the Big Alcohol lobby.
The bill would have added a 6% retail tax on alcohol, ensuring that higher-strength alcohol products would become less affordable. But lawmakers with direct ties to the alcohol industry blocked the bill.
Instead, a watered-down and alcohol industry friendly tax increase passed.
