Latest Approaches to Preventing Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Scientists and policymakers have explored numerous strategies to prevent alcohol abuse and dependence as well as the adverse social, legal, and medical consequences of alcohol use. Many of these efforts have focused on reducing alcohol-impaired driving and the associated injuries and fatalities. As reported in this article, such efforts have included general deterrence laws (e.g., reduced minimum legal drinking age, administrative license revocation, and lower legal limits for blood alcohol concentrations), measures targeted at repeat offenders, and measures to control alcohol availability (e.g., increased taxes and decreased numbers of establishments selling alcohol).