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Monday, October 12, 2009

Long-Term Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws on Past-Year Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Early View 23 Sep 2009

Many studies have found that earlier drinking initiation predicts higher risk of later alcohol and substance use problems, but the causal relationship between age of initiation and later risk of substance use disorder remains unknown.

Exposure to a lower minimum legal purchase age was associated with a significantly higher risk of a past-year alcohol or other substance use disorder, even among respondents in their 40s or 50s. However, this association does not seem to be explained by age of initiation of drinking, per se. Instead, it seems plausible that frequency or intensity of drinking in late adolescence may have long-term effects on adult substance use patterns.


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