These studies consistently indicated that more permissive
licensing procedures increased the number of onand
off-premises alcohol outlets, which in turn led to
increases in alcohol consumption. Two of these studies
specifically reported increases in alcohol consumption
among heavy drinkers, and one study reported an
increase in drinking among survey subjects who reported
not drinking during a specified period at the baseline assessment. The single study that evaluated
alcohol-related harms (alcohol-related motor-vehicle
crashes) found that they increased substantially after
allowing the sale of liquor by the drink.