by Traci L. Toomey, Carolyn Rosenfeld, and Alexander C. Wagenaar

About the authors: At the time this article was written, Traci L. Toomey was a research associate with, Carolyn Rosenfeld was a recent graduate of, and Alexander C. Wagenaar was a professor at the University of Minnesota, Division of Epidemiology.

Science can play a critical role in developing effective policies to address health issues, including those focused on alcohol-related problems. In an ideal world, public policy development would be based on the identification of a problem and the scientific evidence of the factors that are most effective in reducing that problem. In the real world, however, public policy results from economic and political forces, which occasionally combine with good science. Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws provide...