Precise dates of birth were not available from public-use death records, so date-of-birth was estimated as the mid-point in the reported year of birth. MLDA exposure was then estimated from state and year of birth. Month and year of changes in MLDA laws were coded based on data from published research articles and from data provided by the Statewide Availability Data System, a data source for alcohol policy and other alcohol-related epidemiological information (DuMouchel et al., 1987; O’Malley and Wagenaar, 1991; Ponicki, 2004; Wagenaar, 1981–82).
