A new study has found that potentially raising the taxes on different kinds of liquor could help lead to a decrease in the numbers of sexually transmitted infections.

According to the study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, there is a direct correlation between the two, after the state of Maryland increased their taxes on liquor from six to nine percent in 2011 and then saw a 24 percent decrease in the number of cases of gonorrhea in the state.

The results seem to suggest that a decreased consumption in alcohol due to the higher cost did lead to a decrease in sexual risk-taking, the likely reason for the results that were found.

"Policy makers should consider raising liquor taxes if they're looking for ways to prevent sexually transmitted infections," the lead author, Stephanie A.S. Staras, said. "In the year and a half following the alcohol tax rise in Maryland, this prevented 2,400 cases of gonorrhea and saved half a million dollars in health care costs.

The study followed three control groups to determine its findings. Members of the first group included all states that did not change their alcohol taxes, while a second looked at states that did not share a border with Maryland. A third eliminated the states where the government has control over hard liquor sales, which could cause prices to rise in those states without an increase.

None of these control groups saw a decrease in sexually transmitted infections.