Age Restriction

Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws of 21 in the U.S. refer to a minimum age required to purchase alcohol in a state and measures aimed at preventing people under the minimum age from accessing alcohol. MLDA laws have significantly reduced drinking and drinking-related problems among adolescents and young adults, including education drop-out rates, car crashes, crime, injuries, assaults and suicides. There is also evidence that the relaxation of age restrictions contributes to heavier use later in life.  

Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws
Underage and College Alcohol Policies
  1. Joint Impacts of Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Beer Taxes on United States Youth Traffic Fatalities, 1975 to 2001
    Ponicki WR, Gruenewald PJ, LaScala EA. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 31(5), 804-813.
    Date: 2007 (archived)
  2. How Do College Students View Alcohol Prevention Policies?
    Saltz RF. Journal of Substance Use. 12(6), 447-460.
    Date: 2007 (archived)
  3. Propensity for and Correlates of Alcohol Sales to Underage Youth
    Britt H, Toomey TL, Dunsmuir W, Wagenaar AC. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education. 50(2), 25-42.
    Date: 2006 (archived)
  4. Minimum Purchasing Age for Alcohol and Traffic Crash Injuries Among 15- to 19-Year-Olds in New Zealand
    Kypri K, Voas RB, Langley JD, Stephenson SCR, Begg DJ, Tippetts AS, Davie GS, . American Journal of Public Health. 96 (1), 126–131.
    Date: 2006 (archived)
  5. Societal Costs of Underage Drinking
    Miller TR, Levy DT, Spicer RS, Taylor DM. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 67(4), 519-528.
    Date: 2006 (archived)
  6. Youth Alcohol Use and Risky Sexual Behavior: Evidence from Underage Drunk Driving Laws
    Carpenter C. Journal of Health Economics. 24(3), 613-628.
    Date: 2005 (archived)
  7. Community Level Alcohol Availability and Enforcement of Possession Laws as Predictors of Youth Drinking
    Dent CW, Grube JW, Biglan A. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory. 40(3), 355-362.
    Date: 2005 (archived)
  8. Alcohol Policy and Youth Drinking: Overview of Effective Interventions for Young People
    Grube JW, Nygaard P. Preventing Harmful Substance Use: The Evidence Base for Policy and Practice (pp. 113-127). West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. .
    Date: 2005 (archived)
  9. Impacts of California’s Graduated Licensing Law of 1998: An Assessment by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley of the Effects of the Law on Fatal and Injury Crashes
    Cooper D, Gillen D, Atkins F. University of California Berkeley (No. UCB-ITS-RR-2004-1). Berkeley, CA.. .
    Date: 2004 (archived)
  10. Enhanced Enforcement of Laws to Prevent Alcohol Sales to Underage Persons: New Hampshire, 1999-2004
    Enhanced enforcement of laws to prevent alcohol sales to underage persons--New Hampshire 1999-2004. MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report No. 21. .
    Date: 2004 (archived)
  11. Michigan’s Graduated Driver Licensing Program: Evaluation of the First Four Years
    Shope JT, Molnar LJ. Journal of Safety Research. 35(3), 337-344.
    Date: 2004 (archived)
  12. Indirect Effects of Lowering the Drinking Age on New Zealand Students’ Alcohol-Related Behaviors and Attitudes
    Brownfield K, Fernando K, Halberstadt J. New Zealand Journal of Psychology. 32(1), 22-26.
    Date: 2003 (archived)
  13. Estimating the Impact of Alcohol Policies on Youth Suicides
    Markowitz S, Chatterji P, Kaestner R. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. 6(1), 37-46.
    Date: 2003 (archived)
  14. Alcohol Availability as a Predictor of Youth Drinking and Driving: A Hierarchical Analysis of Survey and Archival Data
    Treno AJ, Grube JW, Martin SE. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 27(5), 835-840.
    Date: 2003 (archived)
  15. Assessing the Effectiveness of Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Zero Tolerance Laws in the United States
    Voas RB, Tippetts AS, Fell JC. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 35(4), 579-587.
    Date: 2003 (archived)
  16. Taking Up Binge Drinking in College: The Influences of Person, Social Group, and Environment
    Weitzman ER, Nelson TF, Wechsler H. Journal of Adolescent Health. 32(1), 26-35.
    Date: 2003 (archived)
  17. Changing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age- -Its Effect on a Central City Emergency Department
    Everitt R, Jones P. The New Zealand Medical Journal. 115(1146), 9-11.
    Date: 2002 (archived)
  18. South of the Border: A Legal Haven for Underage Drinking
    Lange JE, Voas RB, Johnson MB. Addiction. 97(9), 1195-1203.
    Date: 2002 (archived)
  19. Limiting Underage Alcohol Purchases: An Application of the Consumer Decision Model
    McCall M, Trombetta J, Nattrass K. Journal of Business and Psychology. 17(1), 19-29.
    Date: 2002 (archived)
  20. Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws: Review and Analyses of the Literature from 1960 to 2000. Journal of Studies on Alcohol
    Wagenaar AC, Toomey TL. Special Issue: College drinking: what it is, and what do to about it: Review of the state of the science. (Suppl14), 206-225.
    Date: 2002 (archived)
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