Sex under the influence: The effect of alcohol policy on sexually transmitted disease rates in the United States

This article presents evidence that sexually transmitted disease (STD) rate s are responsive to increases in alcohol taxes and in the drinking age. The presumed relationship is that a more restrictive alcohol policy reduces al cohol consumption, which in turn decreases risky sexual activity. Reduced-f orm regressions of STD rates on state alcohol taxes for the years 1981-95 ( with controls for state and year) indicate that a $1 increase in the per-ga llon liquor tax reduces gonorrhea rates by 2.1 percent, and a beer tax incr ease of $.20 per six-pack reduces gonorrhea rates by 8.9 percent, with simi lar though more pronounced effects on syphilis rates. Quasi-experimental an alysis of alcohol policy changes supports these findings and offers evidenc e that increases in the drinking age reduce STD rates among youth. The esti mated external cost of alcohol-attributable STDs exceeds $556 million annua lly, a factor that could be considered in determining optimal alcohol polic y.