Saffer (2001) estimated the effectiveness of alcohol and other drug abuse policies in reducing crime. The study used data from more than 32,000 people participating in the 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), which was complemented with data on State beer taxes. The analysis estimated the effectiveness of drug control spending and beer taxes on arrests, property crime, property damage, use of force, and drug selling, both for the entire sample and for people under age 21. The results demonstrated that increased beer taxes can reduce crime and that the magnitude of these effects generally is larger for people under age 21 than for people over age 21.
