Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol Use

1
Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol Use

• Traci L. Toomey, Ph.D.
• Division of Epidemiology
• University of Minnesota

2
History of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age

• After Prohibition most states MLDA was 21 years
• During 1970s many states lowered MLDA to 18, 19,
  or 20
• By 1988 all states returned to MLDA of 21 years

3
Benefits of Higher MLDA

• Less alcohol use
• Fewer traffic crashes
• Saved over 19,000 lives since 1975
• May prevent suicides and vandalism

4
Youth Sources of Alcohol

• Social
• Friends
• Siblings
• Parents
• Co-Workers
• Commercial
• Bars
• Restaurants
• Liquor stores
• Convenience stores

5
Enforcement of MLDA

• Need to target adults who supply alcohol
• Need to target adults who sell alcohol

6
Enforcement Strategies

• Compliance checks with criminal penalties (fines
  or license suspension) for selling to minors
• Train alcohol servers of licensed establishments
• Keg registration
• Shoulder tap campaigns

7
Conclusions

• MLDA laws are a promising strategy
• Enforcement of MLDA laws increase their
  effectiveness
• Sources of alcohol must be targeted