Research affects public policy: the case of the legal drinking age in the United States.

After receiving little attention from 1940 to 1970, minimum-age laws were a focus of debate and policy change in the United States from 1970 to 1985. In the 1970s, 29 states lowered the legal age, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, all states with an age below 21 raised the legal age to 21 for all types of alcoholic beverages. Research on the effects of such policy changes were a central component in the political debates on minimum-age laws. The process by which research results influenced public policy deliberations is discussed. Characteristics that facilitated research results being taken into account in the policy debates included: (1) research of high interval validity that withstood challenge, (2) dissemination of the research results beyond networks of scientists, and (3) participation of bridging individuals who learned of the research results, and condensed and communicated key findings to policy-makers.