A study co-authored by ASPiRE’s Lisa Henriksen examined possible unintended
consequences of restricting tobacco sales to state-owned liquor stores in the 12 states with
government retail monopolies on liquor. Researchers examined survey data from nearly
15,000 adults who responded to the 2015 or 2020 U.S. National Alcohol Survey, including
more than 2,000 in one of the alcohol-control states. Evidence suggests that restructuring
tobacco sales in state-owned liquor stores could increase a risk of relapse to drinking among
daily smokers, especially among women and people with low levels of education. “Strategies
to mitigate unintended harms would be needed if such a policy were implemented,” the
authors concluded. Read the study.