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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Alcohol Price and Intoxication in College Bars
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Early View 3`1 August 2009

Many population studies find that alcohol prices are inversely related to alcoholconsumption and alcohol-related problems, including among college students and young adults. Yet, little is known about the "micro-level" effects of alcohol price on the behavior of individual consumers in natural drinking settings such as college bars. Therefore, we assessed patron's cost per gram of ethanol consumed at on-premise drinking establishments and its association with intoxication upon leaving an establishment.

The results are consistent with economic theory and population-level research regarding the price elasticity of alcoholic beverages, which show that increases in alcohol prices are accompanied by less alcohol consumption. These findings suggest that stricter regulation of the drink discounting practices of on-premise drinking establishments would be an effective strategy for reducing the intoxication levels of exiting patrons.


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