This article has summarized the economic research examining the impact of the full price of alcoholic beverages on drinking and heavy drinking by teenagers and young adults. It also has reviewed similar research that explores the relationship between price and outcomes related to the abuse of alcohol by youths and adults, including drinking and driving and motor vehicle crashes, health consequences of alcohol consumption, and violence and other crime. The majority of this research clearly supports the view that increases in the monetary prices of alcoholic beverages, which can be achieved by raising Federal, State and local alcohol taxes, significantly reduce alcohol consumption.
