Recent Findings

The U.S.-Mexico Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions (UMSARC), which ran from 2009-2015 and concluded last month, produced an extensive range of results that supports the development of culturally appropriate alcohol policies and strategies to increase accessibility to prevention and treatment services for people living at the border. One of the most surprising findings was the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUD) among residents who lived at the border compared to people who lived in … [Read more...]

Results of a recent study that looked at the effects of privatization on the sale and distribution of liquor in Washington State found spirit prices increased significantly, while prices in the bordering states of Idaho and Oregon only showed small increases. Averaging across all of the stores selected, Washington liquor prices rose by an average of 15.5% for the 750ml size and by 4.7% for the 1.75L size. However, price changes varied greatly by store type with no increases found for liquor … [Read more...]

A new study found that men who have sex with men (MSM)—defined as gay and bisexually identified men as well as heterosexually identified men who had same-sex partners--reported equal or lower levels of hazardous drinking than exclusively heterosexual men. This finding dispels the popular assumption that men who have sex with men are more likely to consume alcohol above recommended amounts. The study results also suggest that the protective effect is enhanced for some racial/ethnic groups. Black … [Read more...]

Even though cannabis is the most commonly used drug by people who drink alcohol, no study has looked at the implications of drinking and smoking cannabis at the same time.  ARG Associate Scientist Meenakshi Sabina Subbaraman and Senior Scientist William C. Kerr have done just that  - to investigate how combining the two substances affects adult drinkers compared to people who use both separately.  Their findings show that simultaneous users had double the odds of drunk driving, social … [Read more...]

Black and Hispanic drinkers are more likely to overestimate how much they can safely drink two hours before driving, a new and innovative study examining impairment limits found.  The study, to be published on line ahead of print in the American Journal of Public Health, determined that, on average and controlling for other factors such as weight, education and drinking history, self-reported impairment thresholds (number of standard drinks one could drink in 2 hours before driving without being … [Read more...]