Recent Findings

If the vote for marijuana legalization in Washington State were to be held again, Initiative 502 (I-502) would potentially have a stronger majority than it did in November 2012, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, published today in Contemporary Drug Problems. Researchers found that among people who voted against I-502, 14 percent would now vote in favor of the measure compared to 4.8 percent of yes-voters who would change their … [Read more...]

Washington State residents who voted in favor of privatizing liquor sales were eight times more likely to express a desire to change their original vote than residents who voted against the measure, according to a study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, published today in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Findings suggested that 20 percent of individuals who voted in 2011 to end the government monopoly on liquor sales have changed their … [Read more...]

An increase in cross-border traffic by Washington State residents to Idaho and Oregon following Washington’s privatization of liquor stores resulted in significant revenue for the two bordering states according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, published online this week in the journal Addiction. However, researchers found that while Idaho and Oregon saw an increase in liquor sales, Washington’s sales declined by only a quarter of one … [Read more...]

ARG researchers Thomas K. Greenfield, Katherine Karriker-Jaffe, Lauren Kaplan and William C. Kerr along with Sharon C. Wilsnack of the University of North Dakota recently published work that assessed data from four National Alcohol Surveys to look at depression and alcohol's harms to others (AHTO) such as difficulties with family, finances, assault and vandalism. Study authors found a significant upward trend from 2000 to 2015 for financial troubles from others drinkers. In 2015, depression … [Read more...]

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...]