Research & Resources

Underage drinking and its associated problems have profound negative consequences for underage drinkers themselves, their families, their communities, and society as a whole, and contribute to a wide range of costly health and social problems. Strategies may be implemented through a comprehensive prevention approach including policies and their enforcement, public awareness and education, action by community coalitions, and early brief alcohol intervention and referral programs. This paper focuses on underage drinking laws and their enforcement because these constitute perhaps the most fundamental component of efforts to limit youth access to and use of alcohol.