BALTIMORE - A study released earlier this week concluded that a proposed increase in Maryland's alcohol tax would decrease the number of alcohol-related deaths while saving the state money associated with alcohol-related crimes, the Baltimore Business Journal reports.

Conducted by Johns Hopkins University, the study estimates that a 10-cents-per drink tax increase would result in more than a 4 percent drop in alcohol consumption, which would then save the state more than $225 million in property damage and other costs associated with alcohol-related crimes. At the same time, the increase would generate more than $215 million in revenue, the study says.

Maryland's alcohol lobby opposes any tax hike, arguing that even a small rise in taxes would impact jobs and drive consumers across state lines to purchase alcohol.

"Forcing thousands of waiters, waitresses, bartenders and busboys into the unemployment line is no way to prop up the state's health care system," said Jay Hibbard, vice president of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

The proposed tax hike would increase alcohol prices by an average of 6.6 percent, or $0.60 for a six-pack of beer, $0.60 to $0.80 for a bottle of wine, and $2.25 for a bottle of liquor. The tax would be assessed at the wholesaler level and not on a point-of-sale basis at stores and restaurants.

Maryland's alcohol taxes were last raised in 1972 for beer and 1995 for spirits.