SACRAMENTO — Substance-abuse foes cheered last year when state officials cracked down on sweet, sometimes fizzy, intoxicating drinks such as Mike's Hard Lemonade that -- save for their alcohol content -- bear a remarkable resemblance to soda pop.
The sugary beverages had long been taxed as flavored beers. But state authorities reclassified them as liquor, raising the levies on a six-pack by a factor of 16 to match the rate consumers pay on vodka, rum and other distilled spirits. The move was supposed to generate $38 million in annual revenue for the state.
Now the numbers are in: The state has collected about $9,000 since the new tax rate kicked in Oct. 1. Some officials and activists suspect fraud.
Beverage makers admit they aren't paying the new taxes. They say they don't have to because they have reformulated the drinks -- more than 6,000 varieties -- to transform them into simple beers by limiting the amount of distilled spirits they contain.
They won't explain how. The formulas, they say, are trade secrets. And beverage-industry officials and federal regulators say there are no tests to determine how much distilled spirits the drinks contain.
"We're suspicious," said Mike Scippa, advocacy director at the Marin Institute, an alcohol-industry watchdog. "These drinks are not beer. They don't taste like it, smell like it or look like it. But they are being sold like beer."
A showdown is brewing between the beverage companies and state officials.
"We have an obligation to the people of California to ensure that this regulation is being carried out," said Judy Chu, a Democrat from Monterey Park who chairs the state Board of Equalization, which collects alcohol taxes. "Without a verification process, the alcohol companies can claim anything they want."
The feud is being watched nationwide. California is one of a handful of states aggressively campaigning against makers of "alcopops" -- also called flavored malt beverages -- such as Smirnoff Ice Raspberry Burst, Bacardi Silver Peach and Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Critics, including the American Medical Assn., say manufacturers are using the cheap, sweet, convenience-store beverages to lure teenagers into drinking. They point to marketing campaigns that they say are aimed specifically at underage girls, something the manufacturers deny.
