Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Aims</jats:title><jats:p>To investigate the relationship between legalization of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>unday alcohol sales and alcohol consumption in the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">U</jats:styled-content>nited <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>tates.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design</jats:title><jats:p>State‐level per capita consumption of beer, wine and spirits was analyzed using difference‐in‐differences econometric methods.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting</jats:title><jats:p><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">U</jats:styled-content>nited <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>tates.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Participants</jats:title><jats:p>Five treatment states that repealed their laws restricting <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>unday alcohol sales during 1990–2007 and 12 control states that retained their <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>unday alcohol laws during the same period.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Measurements</jats:title><jats:p>Outcome measures are state‐level per capita consumption of overall alcohol, beer, wine and spirits.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Findings</jats:title><jats:p>Among the states that legalized <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>unday sales of alcoholic beverages, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">D</jats:styled-content>elaware, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">P</jats:styled-content>ennsylvania and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">N</jats:styled-content>ew <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">M</jats:styled-content>exico experienced significant increases in overall alcohol consumption (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.05). However, the effect of the legalization of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>unday alcohol sales in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">M</jats:styled-content>assachusetts and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">R</jats:styled-content>hode <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">I</jats:styled-content>sland on per capita alcohol consumption was insignificant (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.964 and <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.367).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Three out of five states in the United States that repealed their laws restricting <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>unday sale of alcoholic beverages during 1990–2007 experienced significant increases in per capita alcohol consumption. This finding implies that increased alcohol availability leads to an increase in alcohol consumption.</jats:p></jats:sec>