Sunday Bans of Packaged Alcohol Sales

Due to pressure from the alcohol industry and the need for increased tax revenues, many states are considering repealing bans on Sunday alcohol sales. The article, Legalized Sunday Packaged Alcohol Sales and Alcohol-Related Traffic Crashes and Crash Fatalities in New Mexico, (96:1944-1948) in the November 2006 American Journal Of Public Health demonstrates how repealing the ban on Sunday alcohol sales introduced a public health and safety hazard in New Mexico.

In New Mexico, prior to the repealing of the ban, Sunday alcohol consumption was limited to on-site purchases in bars and restaurants. After the ban was lifted on June 1, 1995, alcohol-related crashes went up by 29% (an excess of 543.1crashes) and alcohol-related crash fatalities went up by 42% (an excess of 41.6 fatalities) on Sundays within the time frame of July 1, 1995 to June 30, 2000. No other day of the week showed any statistically significant change in alcohol-related crashes or fatalities. The study urges state legislators to carefully consider the consequences before deciding to repeal Sunday alcohol bans for the sake of increasing state tax revenues.