The Effect of Price on Adolescent Alcohol Consumption

by National Institute of Health

(Page 3 of 3)

A substantial body of research has shown that higher prices or taxes on alcoholic beverages are associated with lower levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Estimates vary, however, in the extent to which consumption or problems change in response to a given price or tax change. Some studies have examined these effects among young people separately from the general population. Most such studies have found that young people's alcohol consumption drops significantly in response to price or tax changes, in some cases exceeding the reductions estimated for the general population. An exception is the study by Dee, which found only small and statistically insignificant effects of beer taxes on teens' drinking behavior. In addition, Chaloupka and Wechsler found that, although higher beer prices tend to decrease drinking and binge drinking among U.S. college students, price is a relatively weak tool for influencing these behaviors, especially among males. In a study of the population age 17 and older, Manning and colleagues found that alcohol consumption decreased in response to price increases for all but the top 5 percent of drinkers, who exhibited no significant price response. Several studies have examined the effects of alcohol prices or taxes on traffic crash fatalities and other alcohol-related problems. Most such studies have reported that higher taxes or prices were associated with significant reductions in traffic crash fatalities or drunk driving, particularly among younger drivers and during nighttime hours. A few later studies have questioned these findings. Dee found some evidence that beer taxes tend to reduce teen traffic fatalities but concluded that those results were not robust and should be viewed with skepticism. Young and Likens found no significant effects of beer taxes on traffic crash fatality rates, either for young drivers or the general population. Mast and colleagues found mixed results, with several analyses indicating significant but relatively small effects of beer taxation on traffic fatalities. Other research has found associations between higher alcoholic beverage taxes and lower rates of some types of violent crime, reduced incidence of physical child abuse committed by women and lower rates of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as with increases in college graduation rates.

Further research is needed to clarify the effects that alcoholic beverage prices or taxes have on different drinking behaviors, health-related outcomes, and population subgroups, and to reconcile conflicting findings that have appeared in the literature. To date, however, the weight of evidence suggests that higher prices and taxes can help to reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.

The Effect of Drinking Laws on Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents

Legal Drinking Age of 21

In 1984, when 25 States had a legal drinking age of 21, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that would withhold highway construction funds from States that did not make it illegal to sell alcohol to people younger than age 21. By 1988, all States adopted such a law. A review of more than 49 studies of legal drinking age changes revealed that in the 1970s and 1980s, when many States lowered the drinking age, alcohol-related traffic crashes increased 10 percent. In contrast, when States increased the legal drinking age to 21, alcohol-related crashes among people younger than age 21 decreased an average of 16 percent. Wagenaar and Toomey reviewed more than 48 studies of the effects of drinking age changes on drinking and 57 studies of traffic crashes. They concluded that increases in the age of legal alcohol purchase and consumption have been the most successful intervention to date in reducing drinking and alcohol-related crashes among people under age 21. One national study of laws raising the drinking age to 21 indicated that people who grew up in States with a drinking age of 21 relative to those with lower legal drinking ages drank less not only when they were younger than age 21 but also when they were ages 21 to 25. NHTSA estimates that a legal drinking age of 21 saves 700 to 1,000 lives annually and that more than 21,000 traffic deaths have been prevented by such laws since 1976.

Zero-Tolerance Laws

All States now have zero-tolerance laws that make it illegal for people under age 21 to drive after any drinking. These laws also have contributed to declines in alcohol-related traffic deaths among people younger than age 21. A comparison of the first eight States to adopt zero-tolerance laws with nearby States without such laws revealed a 21-percent greater decline in zero-tolerance law States in the proportion of fatal crashes among drivers younger than age 21 that were of the type most likely to involve alcohol (i.e., single-vehicle fatal crashes at night). Wagenaar and colleagues found that in the first 30 States to adopt zero-tolerance laws, relative to the rest of the nation, there was a 19-percent decline in the proportion of people younger than age 21 who drove after any drinking and a 23-percent decline in the proportion who drove after five or more drinks.

Unfortunately, despite their demonstrated benefits, legal drinking age and zero-tolerance laws generally have not been vigorously enforced. Young drivers are substantially underrepresented in the driving while intoxicated arrest population relative to their contributions to the alcohol-crash problem. Younger drivers may be more likely to drink in locations where DWI enforcement resources are less likely to be deployed. Young drivers with high blood alcohol concentrations also are more likely to be missed by police at sobriety checkpoints.

Stepped-up enforcement of alcohol purchase laws aimed at sellers and buyers can be effective if resources are made available for this purpose. Enforcement of zero-tolerance laws is hindered in some States because their implied-consent laws require either an arrest for DWI or probable cause for a DWI arrest before the evidentiary test can be done to prove a zero-tolerance violation. Thus, in practice, zero-tolerance laws often are not enforced independently of DWI. In States such as New Mexico, where this situation exists, the majority of teenagers are unaware that there is a zero-tolerance law.

About the Author

NIH is the nation's medical research agency - making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.