Fresh Taxes on Alcohol: Opposing Views

One week ago, coverage of a press release was published stating that new research has found that “boosting taxes on alcohol leads to lower rates of alcohol-related disease, injury, death and crime.” The headline of the news story covering the results contained words that are sore points for Dirty Tractor: “Alcohol-related problems” and “taxes.”

To be more specific, “alcoholism” is more of a touchy subject with us, but “TAXES” is a plain old four letter word.

The press release contained findings that led Bloomberg/BusinessWeek to say that doubling taxes on alcohol could result in a “35% reduction in alcohol-related deaths, an 11% reduction in traffic crash deaths, a 6% reduction in STDs, a 2% reduction in violence and a 1.4% reduction in crime.” But before we raise taxes to help society, let’s consider the source of the data: University of Florida students read 50 published papers on the subject matter and composed a study from a conglomeration of previous studies…

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for public health, which no doubt has a great cause, we cannot question the study any more than that. Rather, we question WHO would be affected the most by double the taxes on alcohol. The groups most likely to lessen their drinking from higher cost would be:

1. College Students
2. Underage Drinkers
3. Um.. that’s probably it

Furthermore, if taxes are increased substantially on alcohol, the market for bootlegging and illegal distribution could be opened back up. There must be data somewhere on the new market for low cost cigarettes after taxes on those went through the roof – now costing more than $8 per pack in some places. If it becomes more attractive for people to break out the stills again, what will THAT do? Moonshine is no good on the liver or people’s behavior- The study did not take prohibition-type schemes into consideration…

On the other end of the spectrum from the university study, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States issued their own counter press release on the SAME day. In it, they state “this research does not account for the enormous economic impact a high tax policy prescription would have on the hospitality industry and its consumers. Not only would this proposal punish responsible adult beverage alcohol consumers, it would also hurt thousands of employees and small businesses in the hospitality industry in every town in America.” Another good point.

Raising taxes on alcohol in the Unites States is not the answer to help society; the repercussions for doing such would be felt across the world. Any benefits that might be gained could be outweighed by the increased health and societal risks of unregulated spirits and loss of people's livelihoods.

You want to get the numbers the news outlet published? Take a look at the age, sex and basic demographics of the people who cause the traffic deaths, STDs and crime. Focus on educating THEM.

Raising taxes would also have close to zero effect on that other touchy subject for us: Alcoholism.

Do Heavy Drinkers Actually Live Longer?

After an August article in TIME Magazine on heavy drinkers outliving non-drinkers, news outlets have heavily covered the subject. I for one never bought into the “drinking is good for you” mindset, so the story took me by surprise.

I can understand how a drink every once in a while can help reduce stress and may help a little in the long run, but the TIME piece focused on heavy drinking. Furthermore, the way the piece was written leads me to believe it was more for justification to drink; almost to clear the author’s conscious.

There was a sentence that started to make sense of the glamorized findings though:

One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health.

Dirty Tractor published a July post on the effect social interaction has on mortality rates (Friends and Family Equal 50% Less Chance of Death?) which ties in with the results the story was written around. What it comes down to is this: A social life helps you live longer; and whether it is at bars, parties, clubs, family gatherings and more, drinking does seem to bring people together.

What is the lesson here though - on a blog that often discussed liver disease?

Quite simply: Be sociable. Here’s an article published in a magazine trying to show drunks live longer than teetotalers, but it’s not because of some mysterious health benefits from alcohol, but the health benefits from the indirect effect it has by bringing people together.

So, for people who are living sober after recovering from alcohol addiction: Be sociable. For people who are battling illness: Be sociable. For family members dealing with a loved one’s sickness: Be sociable… You get the idea.

Healthy Liver Cells grown from Human Skin

In a modern-day scientific breakthrough involving liver disease, researchers have discovered a technique to grow brand new liver cells from human skin stem cells. The research has brought hope to those afflicted with irreversible liver disease one step closer to feasible treatment.

This was not embryonic stem cell research; the skin cells were taken directly from patients who suffered from liver disease, then manipulated to act as stem cells, ultimately becoming liver cells.

Imagine… cirrhosis patients donating skin samples to grow their own new liver cells…

It should be noted that in this case the experiments were performed on subjects who suffered from hereditary forms of liver disease. Still, not only is this an exciting advancement for liver disease treatment, it also is opens possibilities for new techniques to treat and possibly regenerate other types of organs.

Cambridge University in the UK published its results in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and a brief news story on the subject appeared here.

Photo credit: diseased liver cells: University of Cambridge

Friends and Family Equal 50% Less Chance of Death?

Time Magazine just released an article about people's social networks dramatically effect mortality rates. Apparently, the cumulative findings of 148 studies involving 300,000 men and women show an amazing statistic: Those with very few social connections had a 50% higher chance of death than people who have many friends and family close to them.

The article did not mention relationships built on online social networks, rather it discussed how the physical presence of people who share a common bond has an undeniable benefit to one's health.

There is no doubt friends and family are valuable to have close by in times of sickness and turmoil, so in some way it seems the studies have proved the obvious. We're skeptical of that 50% figure though, and don't think it pertains to people with severe illnesses. However, if having friends and family around can help an average person that much, surely it would have a measurable effect on everyone; regardless of physical condition.

To read the article, click here.

Changed Perceptions

A few years back I began a subtle change of how I perceive life and death. It first started when I learned a close family member was diagnosed with irreversible liver cirrhosis. A year later another family member’s health took a turn for the worse from complete kidney failure. It was last year however, when the pregnant driver of Dirty Tractor Racing passed away from a brain aneurysm that my perception of life and death got suddenly real.

I suppose it could be called maturity, and everyone questions what the meaning of life is at some point, but so much has happened in addition to family and friend’s illnesses and passings that it seemed like life’s lessons were concentrated all together in an extremely short period of time. I often find myself relating to what an old Boss of mine use to say: “Stop the world, I want to get off!”

I am however finding silver linings more often than before. A perfect example happened this morning while driving to work. I heard the Jimi Hendrix song “Castles made of Sand.” In it he tells the story of a young Indian who dreamed of growing up and being a warrior chief. As a boy he would “play war games in the woods with his Indian friends.” When he finally was old enough and “he would sing his first war song… fight his first battle… something went wrong; surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night."

Up until this morning I always thought it was such a sad song since the Indian waited his whole life to be in a battle but died the night before it ever happened. Today though it seemed to be the perfect ending to his life though – he was able to die with dreams of a glorious fight and beating his rivals, without experiencing the cold and brutal reality of what it might have been like.

Something didn’t go wrong, it went right.

Unfortunately it seems only through struggle and hardship can some people (like me) see things for what they really are. I'm sure I have a lot more learning to do, so in truth I don’t want to get off the world - I just want the spinning to slow down a little!!

Thinking Hard About Beer Battered Food

This past weekend, I had to recall how much alcohol is actually in beer-battered food. I was getting ready to begin frying some fish with a person suffering from late stage liver cirrhosis, so naturally the thought popped into my head “how much alcohol will be in this?” The answer is none; the alcohol evaporates quickly as the fish is fried, leaving only the taste of the beer behind.

My second thought was that this particular individual has not had a beer in three or more years after being diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. As a recovered alcoholic, I was worried the taste would cause him to crave it again. It turned out all the taste did was cause him (and I) to stuff our faces with not only the fish, but every veggie we could get our hands on in the fridge and dip in the batter – a good ol’ fashioned beer batter fry-a-thon.

However, my early hesitation was warranted. After struggling for years with medication regimens, doctor appointments, hospital stays and more, one afternoon of fun would not be worth a setback. This was walking a thin line as far as I’m concerned, but as of now the only thing we’re craving is to go catch more fish… And when a person might not have much more time left, he deserves an afternoon at the lake.

Liver Transplant... Almost

I’m tired of getting startling phone calls in the middle of the night. Yesterday evening the house was quiet, everyone was sound asleep but me. I had just turned off the last of the lights and was walking to bed when the phone rang.

The sound echoed through the house as I stared at the relative’s number on the caller ID. I let the phone ring exactly three and one half times before I had the courage to pick it up.

“They found a new liver for him!” the voice on the other end shouted. “He’s on his way to another hospital for a transplant!”

Unbelievable. All I could say was “for real?!” Everyone in my house woke up and exchanged equal phrases of astonishment. After the call, we sat around the kitchen table and didn’t know what to say. I’m sure all our mouths were hanging open. The fact that a transplant may be a few hours away just seemed surreal. Of all the people who need new livers, I couldn’t help but wonder why all of the sudden there was one available for an old alcoholic. I’m pretty sure he was thinking the same thing himself. We would not be told who donated the liver, or the reason they didn’t need it anymore, but we are all beyond grateful that they made the choice to be a donor.

While the doctors involved were exchanging paperwork and coordinating efforts from remote locations, my relative was on his way to a metro hospital in the back of an ambulance. (He later laughed and said he got a free $10,000 ride). It was just two hours or so after receiving the news that a liver was available that he was in a new hospital beginning pre-op testing. Then he waited… and waited… and waited. Family members started to arrive to offer support and encouragement, but after the initial rush of joy that this may actually be happening, it was just a matter of hurry up and wait.

For a transplant to happen the donated organ goes through testing of its own. This is to make sure that before a team of surgeons performs the transplant they know the liver will be in the best shape possible and it will be up to the recipient’s body to accept it (with the help of anti-rejection medication). It makes a lot of sense from a practical standpoint also; you wouldn’t want a patient to go through such an extensive procedure to find out the organ was bad to begin with. Then they’d run the risk of being in worse shape than when they started and weakened from surgery.

As the whole family waited at the hospital or in their homes for updates the night wore on. It wasn’t until 7:30 am the next morning, approximately nine hours since I received the news that my phone rang once more. This time the news wasn’t so good though and the caller wasn’t too excited.

The team of doctors and surgeons made the difficult decision to abort the transplant procedure before it started. Through their testing they determined the liver was bad and the operation would not work with the organ they had. We were crushed. Every medical professional involved must have felt some sort or disappointment also – it takes so much effort and cooperation just to get a patient to a hospital and ready for surgery. It was then we found out that the whole event can happen 10 times or more until both the donated organ and recipient are a perfect match and in good enough condition to proceed.

My relative made it to the operating table, but never saw the knife – this time. We’re viewing it as transplant practice, but I’d be lying if I said none of us are upset. To be that close to a refreshed life and not receive it…

…Like winning the lottery and having it taken away nine hours later.

Reminiscing

Lately I’ve found myself saying “remember when” quite a bit. It’s almost like a self defense mechanism to try and keep thinking positive. When visiting a relative in the hospital this week, we had a conversation on the very topic. He’s an elderly patient in intensive care who began talking about his childhood and how things use to be. I remarked how it’s funny his short-term memory doesn’t work, but he can remember events that happened 80 years ago perfectly. In his case, those memories were all he needed to start smiling, even while hooked up to half a dozen machines.

I’ve often hated how easy it is to compile all the situations that are wrong into one ever-sinking feeling; which is especially true for hospital patients. For those of us outside the hospital though, sometimes just a few quiet moments are all it takes to allow your mind to start adding up all the things wrong with life. Those are the times I try to force myself to remember the “good old days” - when hopes and dreams were just a little bigger and problems were much, much smaller.

Forced recollection is actually a technique some top athletes use to help perform their best. They train their bodies to be the fastest, strongest, etc., but dialing-in the best mental state for a competition is another matter – and quite often the difference between winning and losing. Before an event, an athlete may think of a time they performed at their absolute peak… they focus on it, relive the victory, remember all the feelings associated with it… and when the starting gun sounds they are ready to kick some ass.

The same process can be used to feel more like a winner in life. When everything seems to crumble around you, try thinking of a time when life seemed wonderful; when you were happy to be alive. A first kiss, an amazing vacation, even a perfect spring day with a cool gentle breeze and some warm sunshine. For myself, I usually turn on some music to help bring back some memories. For others, there's even magazines about the years gone by, like Reminisce which covers the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s.

In my relative’s situation in the hospital, you could just tell he was grateful to have those old-time memories to cheer him up, even while equipment beeped and chirped all around him. Maybe recalling happier times will be all you need to bring a quick smile to your face too – and we all know how hard that is sometimes.