by: Ted Alcorn
For the third straight year, lawmakers are trying to raise taxes on alcoholic drinks, in an attempt to reduce New Mexico’s worst-in-the-nation alcohol-related death rate.
This time, they just might succeed.
New Mexico has the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the country. In 2023 excessive drinking killed just under 1,900 people in the state, according to previously unreported data from the health department, about double the national death rate.
Powerful lawmakers have said the state needs to act, including House Speaker Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia, who chairs the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. But Democrats, who control both chambers, have been at odds about the best approach, and even the basic purpose of alcohol taxes, despite reams of evidence from across the globe that raising prices deters excessive drinking and reduces injuries and illnesses.
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