Enact keg registration laws
Keg registration laws, enacted at the local or state level, require alcohol retailers to place a unique identifier on a keg and record the purchaser’s name and address at the time of sale. Keg registration enables law enforcement agents to identify and hold responsible the adult who provided the alcohol, should underage drinking occur.
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Effectiveness: = Lower effectiveness
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Cost: $$$ = Higher
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Research Amount: *** = 5 or more cross-sectional studies or 1 to 4 longitudinal studies
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Public Health Reach: Broad
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Staffing Expertise Needed: Policy advocate
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Target Population: Underage students
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Research Population: General
Effectiveness ratings are based on estimated success in achieving targeted outcomes. Cost ratings are based on a consensus among research team members of the relative program and staff costs for adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a strategy. Actual costs will vary by institution, depending on size, existing programs, and other campus and community factors. Barriers to implementing a strategy include cost and opposition, among other factors. Public health reach refers to the number of students that a strategy affects. Strategies with a broad reach affect all students or a large group of students (e.g., all underage students); strategies with a focused reach affect individuals or small groups of students (e.g., sanctioned students). Research amount/quality refers to the number and design of studies.
- Cohen DA, Mason K, & Scribner R. The population consumption model, alcohol control practices, and alcohol-related traffic fatalities. Preventive Medicine, 34(2):187–97, 2000.
- Fell JC, Fisher DA, Voas RB, Blackman K, & Tippetts AS. The relationship of underage drinking laws to reductions in drinking drivers in fatal crashes in the United States. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 40(4):1430–40, 2008.
- Markowitz S, Poe-Yamagata E, Andrews T, Deb P, Nesson E, Florence C, et al. Estimating the relationship between alcohol policies and criminal violence and victimization. German Economic Review, 13(4):416–35, 2012.
- Nelson TF, Naimi TS, Brewer RD, & Wechsler H. The state sets the rate: The relationship among state-specific college binge drinking, state binge drinking rates, and selected state alcohol control policies. American Journal of Public Health, 95(3):441–46, 2005.
- Ringwalt CL & Paschall MJ. The utility of keg registration laws: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48(1):106–8, 2011.
References from 2019 update:
- Fell, J.C.; Scherer, M.; and Voas, R.B. The utility of including the strengths of underage drinking laws in determining their effect on outcomes. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 39(8):1528–1537, 2015.
- Fell, J.C.; Scherer, M.; Thomas, S.; and Voas, R.B. Assessing the impact of twenty underage drinking laws. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 77(2):249–260, 2016.
- Romano, E.; Scherer, M.; Fell, J.C.; and Taylor, E. A comprehensive examination of U.S. laws enacted to reduce alcohol-related crashes among underage drivers. Journal of Safety Research 55:213–221, 2015.
NIAAA, Alcohol Policy Information System, Retail Sales: Keg Registration
For more information about intervention designs and implementation, check the articles in the References tab.
