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Proximity of Alcohol Establishments and Sales of Cannabis to Intoxicated Customers

Proximity of Alcohol Establishments and Sales of Cannabis to Intoxicated Customers

A multi-disciplinary research team led by Klein Buendel presented data from an active polysubstance (alcohol and cannabis) project at the 48th Annual Research Society on Alcohol Scientific Meeting on June 21-25, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Dr. David Buller presenting poster

State laws prohibiting sales of alcohol to apparently intoxicated customers are intended to prevent morbidity/mortality from impaired driving, impulsive behaviors, injuries, and violence. A few states (including Oregon) have similar prohibitions for recreational cannabis sales. Compliance with state prohibitions against sales to intoxicated customers by co-located alcohol and cannabis sales establishments was examined in two metropolitan areas in Oregon.

In 2024, actors trained to feign alcohol intoxication visited state-licensed recreational cannabis stores in four counties containing Portland and Salem metropolitan areas and attempted to purchase a low-cost cannabis product while displaying alcohol intoxication. These same actors assessed sales of alcohol products at licensed on-site and off-site alcohol premises located near cannabis stores, using the pseudo-patron protocol. Concordance in refusals (1=both establishments refused vs. 0=else) and concordance in sales (1=both sold vs. 0=else) and point-to-point distances (in kilometers) between alcohol premises and each cannabis store were calculated.

Pseudo-patron teams consisting of a buyer feigning intoxication and an observer assessed 173 cannabis stores and 39 alcohol premises, resulting in 6,747 pairs of establishments. Logistic regression revealed that concordance in refusals (regulatory compliance) was higher in pairs of establishments that were located closer together rather than farther apart. Concordance in sales (regulatory non-compliance) was higher in pairs of establishments that were farther apart rather than closer together, even when examining pairs within the same city and county.

Neighborhood influences on alcohol and cannabis use may arise from the consistency of responsible sales behavior of co-located retailers. When both alcohol and cannabis establishments fail to refuse sales to intoxicated customers, use of alcohol and cannabis and accompanying harms may increase, especially from co-use which can result in high impairment. Community norms associated with, for example, social class or presence of children or regulators’ enforcement efforts may determine similarity in compliance. Responsible vendor training requirements or additional enforcement efforts might reduce co-location effects (neighborhood differences). The small number of alcohol premises and single state somewhat limited the study.

This research is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA031591; Dr. W. Gill Woodall and Dr. David Buller, Multiple Principal Investigators). Additional collaborating authors include Dr. Robert Saltz from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation; Dr. James Fell from the National Opinion Research Center; Dr. Ian Buller from DLH Corporation, Inc.; Dr. Gary Cutter from the University of Alabama; and Ms. Lila Martinez, Mr. Noah Chirico, and Ms. Amanda Brice from Klein Buendel.

Decreasing access to marijuana by alcohol-impaired customers

Decreasing access to marijuana by alcohol-impaired customers

Recreational marijuana markets appear to be contributing to morbidity and mortality due to polysubstance impaired driving and other harms by selling a social intoxicant (marijuana) to already intoxicated customers. Impairment increases when marijuana is combined with alcohol, making driving particularly risky and also contributing to other injuries and violence. In recreational marijuana markets, deterrence efforts to reduce impaired driving directed at drivers face challenges due to dispute over THC levels in per se laws and lack of valid field sobriety tests.

A team of researchers at Klein Buendel, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, and NORC at the University of Chicago, is launching a new 5-year research project to study an alternative prevention approach — decrease access to marijuana by alcohol-impaired customers. The goal of this study is to test the effectiveness of a policy and training intervention in the state-licensed recreational marijuana market in a Northwest State, where state law bans sales to apparently-intoxicated customers. It combines policy efforts by state regulators to increase deterrence of the state’s law and motivate store management to comply and training of store personnel in skills to recognize intoxication and refuse sales, using a responsible marijuana vendor online training developed by the research team.

Specific Aims

Aim 1: Conduct pseudo-intoxicated patron (PiP) assessments at state-licensed recreational marijuana stores in the state’s largest metropolitan area in Year 1.

Aim 2: Implement a policy and training (PT) intervention in Year 2 designed to increase compliance with the state law prohibiting sale of recreational marijuana products to apparently-intoxicated customers with a subsample of stores, assigned at random, that intends to: a) make owners/managers of recreational marijuana stores aware of the state’s law prohibiting sales of marijuana to apparently-intoxicated customers, b) increase their risk perception and motivation to comply with this law, and c) train store personnel in skills needed to recognize signs of intoxication in customers and refuse sales.

Aim 3: Compare PT intervention stores to usual and customary policy and training stores in a randomized controlled trial by posttesting state-licensed recreational marijuana stores in the large metro area with PiP assessments for refusal of sales in Year 3.

Aim 4: Estimate impact of the PT intervention on refusal to PiPs by implementing the PT intervention with the remaining stores in Year 3 in a partial cross-over design and assessing state-licensed stores with the PiP protocol in Year 4 and in Year 5.

The research is innovative and high impact by testing one of the first interventions to prevent recreational marijuana sales to apparently-intoxicated customers in one of the first states to ban such sales to reduce the risk of polysubstance impaired driving and other harms. The design allows for reproducibility by using a partial crossover. The PT intervention can be a model intervention to improve compliance with regulations on recreational marijuana sales in other states that have legalized recreational marijuana or that are considering legalization. 

The research is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA031591). Dr. W. Gill Woodall and Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel are the Project’s Multiple Principal Investigators. Dr. Robert Saltz from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and Mr. James Fell from NORC are collaborating Co-Investigators.

Sales of Recreational Cannabis to Alcohol-Intoxicated Customers

Sales of Recreational Cannabis to Alcohol-Intoxicated Customers

To prevent harm, some U.S. states have laws prohibiting the sale of recreational marijuana to alcohol-intoxicated customers. In a recent publication in the International Journal of Drug Policy, Klein Buendel researchers and collaborators evaluated an online responsible marijuana vendor (RMV) training program – Train to Tend – and its performance at deterring sales to apparently alcohol-intoxicated customers in recreational cannabis stores. Much like the training of responsible alcohol sales practices, RMV training may prove beneficial for helping to keep customers and communities safe.

One hundred fifty stores from Colorado, Oregon, and Washington were enrolled in the randomized controlled trial. Half of the stores were randomly selected to receive Train to Tend training. One of the five online training modules addressed recognizing signs of impairment and intoxication, refusing sales to intoxicated patrons, and understanding the risks of driving under the influence of cannabis.

The evaluation employed pseudo-patron pairs, one of which displayed obvious signs of alcohol intoxication. The refusal of cannabis sales to the pseudo-intoxicated buyers was very low. In some cases, store personnel made comments or expressed suspicion towards buyers’ behavior, but continued with the sale nonetheless. Refusal rates between intervention and control stores were not significantly different. Overall, responsible marijuana vending practices alone did not appear to influence the reduction of marijuana sales to customers with obvious signs of alcohol intoxication. A full description of the methods, results, and discussion can be found in the publication.

This research was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (DA038933; Dr. David Buller, Principal Investigator). Co-authors on the publication include Dr. Robert Saltz from the Prevention Research Center at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in California; Dr. Gary Cutter from the University of Alabama, Birmingham; and Dr. W. Gill Woodall, Andrew Grayson, and Sierra Svendsen from Klein Buendel.