The tobacco and alcohol industries have a similar agenda regarding taxes and other regulations on their products. The tobacco industry allied directly or indirectly with the alcohol industry in the 1980s and 1990s to oppose tobacco taxes, smoke-free air laws, and tobacco advertising/marketing restrictions (Jiang & Ling, 2013). This suggests that the alcohol industry believes that alcohol and cigarettes are economic complements (i.e., that decreased sales of one adversely effects sales of the other), which is consistent with results of our analyses. Our work and similar studies that describe the negative association between tobacco policies and alcohol consumption can help public health advocates better understand the link between the tobacco and alcohol industries in order to be better prepared to contest their opposition to strengthening tobacco policies.
