Alcohol sales decreasing in legal marijuana states, study finds

New research finds that cannabis has become a significant alternative to drinking alcohol.

A working study from the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University has observed a 15 percent drop in alcohol sales in states that legally allow medical marijuana.

“States legalizing medical marijuana use experience significant decrease in the aggregate sales of alcohol, beer and wine,” the researchers wrote. “Moreover, the effects are not short lived, with significant reductions observed up to 24 months after the passage of the law.”

Researchers examined Nielsen’s Retail Scanner database for alcohol sales data from over 90 major retailers throughout the United States.

The experts find that beer and wine sales in particular have seen the largest decline.

“When disaggregating by beer and wine we find that legalization of medical marijuana had a negative effect on corresponding sales by as much as 13.8 and 16.2 percent,respectively,” according to the researchers.

The study falls in line with sales figures from the legal cannabis state of Washington, where marijuana sales nearly surpassed alcohol sales in…