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People may not be reaching for the top shelf quite so frequently these days, but that doesn’t mean they’re forgoing cocktails or nightcaps.

Liquor sales, which have grown year over year for at least a decade, show no signs of slowing despite an economic downturn that’s causing penny-pinching and belt-tightening.

The illegal-drug trade also seems to be alive and well, though sales of marijuana and cocaine are obviously harder to quantify. Still, “it’s business as usual” at the Seattle field office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), whose agents investigate drug-trafficking organizations.

“We haven’t seen an increase or a decrease” in the number of investigations aimed at stemming the flow of drugs into the region, said Jodie Underwood, a spokeswoman for the field office.

While purveyors of pleasurable escapes aren’t immune to market forces, so-called “sin industries” do seem better at resisting the economy’s downward pull. Despite the country’s bleak financial forecast

“It’s just the way people self-medicate,” said Dr. Victoria Zdork, a New Jersey psychologist and sex therapist. “Anything that gives quick dopamine rushes when you’re feeling down, whether through gambling, the sex industry or cocaine. Anything that’s going to make people feel better like that are more recession-proof.”

For the state’s Indian casinos, it’s too early to tell how big an impact the recession will have on the discretionary spending habits of gamblers, said Ron Allen, president of the Washington Indian Gaming Association.

“The whole financial crisis is very current, so there’s not enough data yet to discern if those [spending] patterns are shifting dramatically,” he said.

Without numbers, it’s hard to know if gaming activities simply are leveling off as casinos reach saturation in their respective markets, Allen said, noting too that casinos typically see a slowdown in business during the winter months.

With 70 percent of all net gambling receipts in the state, Indian casinos generated an estimated $1.48 billion in 2008

Allen, who is also chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, said his tribe’s casino

“The majority of casinos have tapered down 2 to 3 percent. The highest [drop] we’ve heard is 12 to 14 percent, but that’s not the norm,” said Allen, explaining that a range of factors

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