Report Compares Alcohol-Related Laws, Policies Across U.S.December 22, 2000
Research Summary
A newly released report provides the first comprehensive reference guide to alcohol-related laws and policies in all U.S. states and the District of Columbia.Researchers at the University of Minnesota released the "Alcohol Policies in the United States: Highlights from the 50 States" report, which provides information on patterns and trends of selected alcohol policies nationwide and on the status of the policies in each state.
"The report is designed to serve as a policy tool to examine, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of existing state laws across the country and to fill the gaps in existing research," said Alexander Wagenaar, director of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health's Alcohol Epidemiology Program. "It's important to understand and compare state policies around alcohol because the impact of alcohol use is profound."
The report looks at four major areas of alcohol law: distribution systems, purchase and sales, taxation and drinking and driving. The information is organized into three main sections: a brief description of each policy; a national overview, including research findings in each policy area and summary information on the status of each policy across the United States; and a state highlights section presenting detailed data on the policies for each state, as well as a national average.
The report includes the numerous changes that have occurred in state alcohol policies over the past few decades. Among them is the progress made in lowering general and youth blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers.
The report found little change in state and federal taxes levied on alcohol across the United States. Recent research determined that a higher alcohol tax is effective in reducing alcohol-related problems.
The national study was conducted as part of the ImpacTeen Project, a five-year interdisciplinary partnership of nationally recognized alcohol, tobacco and other drug experts in the fields of economics, etiology, epidemiology, law, political science, public policy, psychology and sociology.
"Once cross-referenced with trends in youth alcohol use, this report will be an extremely valuable resource for those who make decisions on where to spend limited dollars to address those issues -- such as mandatory server and seller training, enforcement of penalties for drinking and driving, and treatment and education programs," said Wagenaar.
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