Film Club: ‘A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes’

“A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes” is a five-minute Opinion video addressing the quiet drug epidemic facing our nation — excessive drinking. “Imagine a way,” the Times filmmakers ask, “to drastically cut the number of deaths on America’s roads, to spare many from fatal disease, something that could reduce violence and even unwanted pregnancies.” The good news, they inform us, is that it actually exists: raise taxes on alcohol. The bad news is that politicians are petrified to do so.

How persuasive is the film? Do you agree that excessive drinking is a national crisis? Is it a big problem where you live? After watching the video, do you think raising alcohol taxes is a good idea?

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

• What questions do you still have?

• What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: What can be done to reduce the destructive effects of excessive drinking? Is raising alcohol taxes a good idea?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read “A Toast to Raising Alcohol Taxes.” Kirk Semple and Adam Westbrook, the Times filmmakers, write:

The Opinion Video above is about a drug problem — but not the one you may think. While the United States struggles to deal with the opioid crisis, there’s a quieter drug epidemic that has been unfolding for a lot longer. It involves a substance that was normalized long ago but that, by some measures, plays a role in more than 140,000 deaths a year.

It’s alcohol.

But don’t worry. We here at Opinion Video are not a bunch of temperance reformers coming to take away your six-packs and single malts. We just think there’s a lot more that American lawmakers could be doing to lessen the harm that alcohol causes.

Sure, the government has set limits on how, where, when and to whom alcohol can be sold. But there’s another highly effective measure that officials have largely ignored: tax increases. (Even if the thought of more taxes makes you want to reach for a bottle of something, take a look at the video and tell us where you stand via the poll below.)

Want more student-friendly videos? Visit our Film Club column.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.