Three Oklahoma officials urged state lawmakers to raise the alcohol tax to help address a 2012 fiscal year budget deficit that could be as large as $800 million, the Associated Press reported Oct. 14.

Health Commissioner Terry Cline and Mental Health Commissioner Terri White were joined by Department of Human Services director Howard Hendrick in advocating for the alcohol tax increase.

Cline said that his agency cut employees and services to meet a 15 percent cut for the past two years. “One or two years of cuts to that infrastructure could result in decades of loss in terms of well-being for constituents in our system,” he said. 

White said it was cheaper to treat people in the community than in prison. She said it cost $15 per day to treat someone for substance abuse and $25 per day for mental health issues. In comparison, she said, prison cost $48 per day, or $175 per day for someone in a mental health unit in prison.  

Hendrick said the proposed tax would pay for alcohol-related expenses now borne by the state.

“We're not saying you can't drink, we're not going to prohibition we're just asking you to pay your share of the cost,” Hendrick said. “We're just trying to deter people from behaving irresponsibly with alcohol.”