Citation

Benny C, Gatley JM, Sanches M, Callaghan RC. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019; 197: 65-72.

Affiliation

Northern Medical Program, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9, Canada; Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR), University of Victoria, 2300 McKenzie Ave., Victoria, BC, V8N 5M8, Canada. Electronic address: Russ.Callaghan@unbc.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.12.025

PMID

30780068

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIM: Given that alcohol-related victimization is highly prevalent among young adults, the current study aimed to assess the potential impacts of Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) laws on police-reported violent victimization events among young people.

DESIGN: A regression-discontinuity (RD) approach was applied to victimization data from the Canadian Uniform Crime Reporting 2 (UCR2) Incident-based survey from 2009-2013. Participants/cases: All police-reported violent victimization events (females: n = 178,566; males: n = 156,803) among youth aged 14-22 years in Canada. MEASUREMENTS: Violent victimization events, primarily consisting of homicide, physical assault, sexual assault, and robbery.

RESULTS: In comparison to youth slightly younger than the drinking age, both males and females slightly older than MLDA had significant and immediate increases in police-reported violent victimization events (females: 13.5%, 95% CI: 7.5%-19.5%, p < 0.001; males: 11.6%, 95% CI: 6.6%-16.7%, p < 0.001). Victimizations occurring in the evening rose sharply immediately after the MLDA by 22.8% (95% CI: 9.9%-35.7%, p =  0.001) for females and 19.3% (95% CI: 11.5%-27.2%, p < 0.001) for males. Increases in violent victimization immediately after MLDA were most prominent in bar/restaurant/open-air settings, with victimizations rising sharply by 44.9% (95% CI: 29.5%-60.2%, p < 0.001) among females and 18.3% (95% CI: 7.7%-29.0%, p =  0.001) among males.

CONCLUSIONS: Young people gaining minimum legal drinking age incur immediate increases in police-reported violent victimizations, especially those occurring in the evening and at bar/restaurant/open-air settings. Evidence suggests that increasing the MLDA may attenuate patterns of violent victimization in newly restricted age groups.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Language: en

Keywords

Alcohol; Minimum legal drinking age; Regression-discontinuity; Victimization