Fremont County Initiative

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• Fremont County Initiative
• Optional Alcoholic Beverages Tax

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The Cause For Concern

• Wyoming ranks
• 1st in the Nation for drinking alcohol before the
  age of 13.
• 4th in the Nation for binge drinking (more than 5
  alcoholic beverages within a couple of hours in
  the past month).
• 5th in the Nation for driving after drinking
  alcohol.
• 6th in the Nation for current alcohol use (past
  30 days).

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Fremont Countys Alarming Numbers

• 28.7 of Fremont County 6th graders have drank
  alcohol.
• 35.8 of 12th graders participate in binge
  drinking.
• 30.5 of 10th graders report coming to school
  drunk or high.
• 49 of 10th graders are at risk for academic
  failure.

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The Costs of Underage Drinking in WY
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Current Wyoming Alcohol Tax Revenue

• Beer (.02 per gallon)258,760
• Wine (.28 per gallon)187,880
• Spirits (.95 per gallon)813,200
• TOTAL1,259,840
• Deficit of 130,740,160.00

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How Much Do Underage Youth Consume?

• In 2001, underage drinkers consumed 23.1 of all
  alcohol sold in Wyoming, totaling 46 million in
  sales!

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Fremont County Attitudes Toward Underage Drinking
Survey 2005

• 88 agree Parents should not let their teens and
  their teens friends drink alcohol at home.
• 85 agree For youth who are known to have
  engaged in underage drinking, schools should help
  families find additional help, treatment or other
  programs, if needed.

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Fremont County Attitudes Toward Underage Drinking
Survey 2005

• 87 agree Wyoming courts should provide court
  supervised substance abuse treatment to offenders
  who have long-term substance abuse problems.
• 87 would support an increase in Wyomings
  alcohol tax that reflects the national average if
  they knew that money would be set aside to pay
  for drug and alcohol prevention and treatment
  programs for young people.

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Fremont County Attitudes Toward Underage Drinking
Survey 2005

• A total of 435 interviews were completed. A
  sample of that size yields a margin of error of
  about plus or minus 4.8 percentage points with
  95 confidence.
• The Wyoming Survey Analysis Center (WYSAC)
  conducted the telephone survey of Fremont County
  households regarding attitudes toward underage
  drinking.

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Optional Alcohol Beverages Tax Draft Bill

• Would give local communities the option of having
  a popular vote to increase their local alcohol
  taxes to the national averages.
• The revenue would be set aside to pay for alcohol
  prevention and treatment for young people in our
  community.
• Local Control Is Key!

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Optional Alcohol Beverages Tax Draft Bill

• Raising alcohol taxes is a proven strategy to
  reduce underage drinking and impact the costs of
  underage drinking.
• The bill would NOT raise taxesit would allow for
  local communities to develop solutions to address
  their local alcohol problems.

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What You Can Do

• Support the Optional Alcoholic Beverages Tax!
• Contact you local legislators and ask them to
  sponsor and/or support the bill
• Write a letter to the editor
• Sign a resolution or similar document that
  supports the Optional Alcoholic Beverages Tax.
• Spread the Word!