The reduction in binge drinking among youth in general is likely to be at least partly attributable to the adoption of the uniform drinking age of 21.4 Statistically significant effects of MLDA on alcohol participation and binge-drinking among high-school seniors has been documented;30 zero-tolerance DUI laws have a smaller, but still significant effect for high-school seniors.30, 31 Other policy changes may also have had effects, but have not been as thoroughly studied as the MLDA and zero-tolerance policies. The offsetting trend toward increased binge drinking among women is consistent with other reports of trends towards a “closing gender gap” in terms of alcohol and drug misuse.27, 28, 32, 33 No reduction in binge drinking has been realized for 18–20 year old college men, and women in college have increased in binge drinking prevalence faster than their non-student counterparts (for the 21–23 year age group). These findings are consistent with observations from Monitoring the Future follow-up surveys, indicating that college students have been less likely to experience declines in binge drinking or heavy drinking than their similarly aged peers.29
