- Researchers tracked publicly available data on alcohol chain sales
- They contrasted those changing figures with states’ medical marijuana laws
- The team found a clear correlation between legalization and a dip in sales
Sales of alcohol have dropped an average of 15 percent in states which legalized medical marijuana, new data reveal.
Researchers at two US colleges and a Peruvian university analyzed publicly available data on 90 alcohol chain stores from 2006 to 2015.
They contrasted the changing trends with each state’s medical marijuana laws.
Without exception, they saw significant reductions in alcohol sales in every state with legal cannabis for medical purposes.
The authors believe the study shows marijuana is being used as a substitute for alcohol since both products provide similar effects to their consumers.
Researchers at two US colleges and a Peruvian university analyzed publicly available data on 90 alcohol chain stores from 2006 to 2015. They found a clear correlation (pictured)
Legal marijuana was more damaging to wine sales (which plummeted as much as 16.2 percent) than to beer sales, though those still dropped a hefty 13.8 percent.
‘Remarkably, our findings are quite robust to a broad array of tests,’ the authors wrote.
They found the correlation was particularly strong in counties on the border between two states that had legalized medical marijuana.
There, alcohol sales dropped as much as 20 percent, with little difference between beer and wine.
In conclusion, they take these figures to be a positive thing, that may ‘help focus on the positive first order impacts of pursuing cannabis legalization’ such as a drop in traffic injuries and deaths.
Marijuana is legal in a total of 29 states.
WHERE MARIJUANA IS LEGAL IN THE US
Vermont has become the ninth state to make it legal to buy and use marijuana recreationally. Medical marijuana is legal in an additional 28 states and DC
Medical marijuana states:
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
Recreational marijuana states:
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Vermont
- Washington