The report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Harvard School of Public Health said that states with four or more of a list of laws targeting environmental factors such as low prices, special promotions, and outlet density succeeded in cutting risky drinking among college students.

"The good news is that if more states and communities take relatively straightforward actions -- such as enacting laws that discourage high-volume sales -- they could see fewer drinking problems on college campuses and in their broader populations as well," said study author Toben Nelson.

CDC officials noted that laws aimed at limiting alcohol consumption among the general population also helped prevent binge drinking on campus, since most college drinking and alcohol purchases occur away from school. "We recommend that states and communities implement effective prevention strategies for binge drinking, including increasing state alcohol taxes, enforcing minimum legal drinking-age laws, and enforcing laws prohibiting alcohol sales to already intoxicated persons," said Robert Brewer, leader of the CDC Alcohol Team.

"More regulation translates to less abuse," said John Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. "We need strong controls to eliminate binge drinking."

The study appears in the March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Nelson, T., Naimi, T., Brewer, R., & Wechsler, H. (2005) The State Sets the Rate: The Relationship Among State-Specific College Binge Drinking, State Binge Drinking Rates, and Selected State Alcohol Control Policies. American Journal of Public Health, 95(3): 441-446.

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