A review of alcohol and other drug control policy research.

Objective: This article provides a historical review of alcohol and other drug policy research and its impact on public health over the past 75 years. We begin our summary with the state of the field circa 1940 and trace the development across the subsequent decades. We summarize current thinking and suggest possible future directions the field of alcohol and other drug policy may take. Specific topics discussed include the minimum legal drinking age, pricing and taxation, hours and days of sale, outlet density, and privatization effects. The future of drug policy research is also considered.

Method: A comprehensive search of the literature identified empirical studies, reviews, and commentaries of alcohol and other drug policy research published from 1940 to 2013 that contributed to the current state of the field.

Results: Our review demonstrates the historical emergence of alcohol problems as a public health issue over the early part of the 20th century, the public health policy response to this issue, subsequent research, and current and future research trends.

Conclusions: Alcohol and other drug policy research over the last several decades has made great strides in its empirical and theoretical sophistication of evaluating alcohol policy effects. This history is not only remarkable for its analytic complexity, but also for its conceptual sophistication.