Because results of existing studies are conflicting, and sometimes not generalizable to the full population, further clarification is needed on the role of tobacco policies on alcohol consumption in the U.S. Prior U.S. studies have not always focused on the general population, have not accounted for local city or county tobacco policies, and have primarily examined data over a relatively short time period. Only one study has considered the effects of both SFA policies and cigarette taxes, with contradictory effects of the two policies (Picone et al., 2004). Finally, studies have not attempted to distinguish tobacco policy effects on consumption of different types of alcoholic beverages; an important consideration given that smokers may have different beverage preferences than non-smokers (Barefoot et al., 2002; Klatsky et al., 1990; Klatsky & Armstrong, 1993; Tjønneland et al., 1999). To further elucidate the relationship between tobacco policies and alcohol consumption in the U.S., we used state alcohol sales data from 1980–2009 to examine the effects of state cigarette prices and SFA policies on state per capita total alcohol, beer, wine, and spirits consumption. Specifically,
