Americans Did Indeed Buy More Alcohol During the Pandemic

Thrillist, The Miami Herald and other outlets continued to report on University at Buffalo research that looked at alcohol sales in over a dozen states early in the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, people stocked up on alcohol — but not all kinds of drinks, the Miami Herald reports. Sales of wine and spirits, in particular, increased, the study found, though trends varied by state. The research was conducted by Yingjie Hu, assistant professor of geography; Brian Quigley, research assistant professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB and Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions; and Dane Taylor, assistant professor of mathematics.