Abstract:
Objectives. We report impacts on alcohol consumption following new and
increased minimum alcohol prices in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Methods. We conducted autoregressive integrated moving average time
series analyses of alcohol sales and price data from the Saskatchewan government
alcohol monopoly for 26 periods before and 26 periods after the intervention.
Results. A 10% increase in minimum prices significantly reduced consumption
of beer by 10.06%, spirits by 5.87%, wine by 4.58%, and all beverages combined
by 8.43%. Consumption of coolers decreased significantly by 13.2%, cocktails by
21.3%, and liqueurs by 5.3%. There were larger effects for purely off-premise
sales (e.g., liquor stores) than for primarily on-premise sales (e.g., bars,
restaurants). Consumption of higher strength beer and wine declined the most.
A 10% increase in minimum price was associated with a 22.0% decrease in
consumption of higher strength beer (> 6.5% alcohol/volume) versus 8.17% for
lower strength beers. The neighboring province of Alberta showed no change in
per capita alcohol consumption before and after the intervention.
Conclusions. Minimum pricing is a promising strategy for reducing the public
health burden associated with hazardous alcohol consumption. Pricing to reflect
percentage alcohol content of drinks can shift consumption toward lower
alcohol content beverage types.