State Policies and Adolescent Alcohol Use

Consistent with prior research, a 2014 Research Brief from our partners at Child Trends presented mixed findings on the relationship between state policy and adolescent alcohol use. Higher beer taxes and laws requiring that beer kegs be registered are associated with decreases in adolescent drinking, laws that impose a driver’s license penalty for consumption are associated with higher rates alcohol use. These mixed findings suggests that state-level environmental factors that are difficult to measure may have a greater influence on adolescent drinking than state policies.

The brief can be downloaded here:

An Analysis of State Underage Drinking Policies and Adolescent Alcohol Use