<< The Gonorrhea Connection
ATLANTA, April 28 ? In an unusual report, government researchers say that raising the tax on a six-pack of beer by 20 cents could reduce gonorrhea by up to 9 percent.
?Alcohol has been linked to risky sexual behavior among youth,? said Harrell Chesson, a health economist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A CDC study released Thursday compares changes in gonorrhea rates to changes in alcohol policy in all states from 1981 to 1995. In years following beer tax increases, gonorrhea rates usually dropped among young people. The same happened when the drinking age went up ? as it did in many states during the 1980s.
?[Alcohol] influences a person?s judgment, and they are more likely to have sex without a condom, with multiple partners or with high-risk partners,? Chesson said.
Jeff Becker, president of The Beer Institute in Washington, said sex education and safe sex campaigns focusing on condom use may also have had an impact on declining gonorrhea rates.
?To suggest that young people would change their behavior because of a small increase in the price of beer is absolutely absurd,? Becker said.
Gonorrhea, one of the most common venereal diseases, was examined in the CDC study because long-term statistics are available and the disease is more evenly spread among states.
The CDC analyzed the drops in gonorrhea rates following different tax increases and came up with the estimate that a 20-cent increase per six-pack could lead to a 9 percent drop in gonorrhea.
Chesson cited the example of a 16-cent-per-gallon ? about 9 cents per six-pack ? tax increase in California in 1991. Gonorrhea rates in the 15 to 19 age group dropped about 30 percent the following year. Drops in other states were not as dramatic. >>
LOL! I doubt if raising beer prices 9 cents per 6 pack would help out around here (Virginia Tech)
