Indopedia All Things Marijuana
According to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University, medical marijuana reform has had a significant impact on alcohol sales, to the tune of a 15-percent decline in some states.
Researchers examined monthly alcohol sales records from 2006-2015, gathered from drug, convenience, grocery, and big-box retail chain stores. The data were sourced from the Nielsen Retail Scanner database, which records sales data from 90 retail chains nationwide. The authors of the study claimed this new use of the Nielsen data are preferable to using survey-collected data where people tend to give less than accurate portrayals of their actual usage rates.
The study also accounted for factors that may affect alcohol consumption rates like income, race, and age.
One major aim of the study was to distinguish whether medical marijuana legalization paves the way for marijuana to replace alcohol for some consumers, as opposed to complementing it.
“In economics, however, the overall impression, true or not, is that these two substances substitute each other, while in public health there is no strong perception on the link,” the study
