Alcohol sales at local liquor stores tend to increase violence in their neighborhoods regardless of location, while bars tend to make violent neighborhoods worse, according to a study from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE).

HealthDay News reported May 31 that PIRE researchers drew their conclusions from relating hospital discharges, demographic information, and liquor-outlet locations in 1,637 California zip codes.

"The regulation of alcohol outlets in violence-prone areas clearly is an important step to reducing crime," said study author Paul Gruenewald. "In areas where bars are a particular problem, special effort should be made to reduce the potential for violence in these establishments."

The study appears in the May 2006 issue of the journal Addiction.