1. My new study in @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social examined how alcohol 💲 sales changed at Nova Scotia Liquor Corp stores during the first 17 months after Canada 🍁 legalized recreational cannabis in 2018. #EconSky #EpiSky @brocku.ca www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
2. After legalization, total NSLC monthly alcohol sales quickly dropped & then slowly recovered. From Oct 2018 to Feb 2020, they averaged about $500K (1.2%) ⬇️ below pre-legalization levels.
3. Across NSLC stores that sold only alcohol, total monthly sales averaged roughly $800K ⬇️ lower than before legalization. But across those that began selling cannabis, monthly alcohol sales instead totaled $300K ⬆️ higher! Differences were bigger for 🍺 beers & coolers than 🍷 wines or spirits.
4. The differences persisted when considering similarly-sized shops, or the proximity of cannabis sellers to alcohol-only shops. The combination of sales drops & gains might reflect a mix of substitution, co-use, & store-switching by consumers.
5. Overall, it seems cannabis legalization had only slight initial impacts on alcohol use in Nova Scotia. Thanks to NSLC for sharing its sales data, and to Lisa Ferrantelli & Skander Lazrak for their help!