State policies decrease youth smoking, drinking, sex

State policies, such as taxing the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, decrease teenage smoking and drinking, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The researchers also found a correlation between an increased availability of family planning clinics and a decrease in teen sexual intercourse. The study results suggest that state and local legislatures can help teenagers make decisions to avoid unhealthy behaviors by implementing laws to make cigarettes and beer more difficult to obtain and increase the number of family planning clinics. The study is published in the February 2005 issue of Preventive Medicine.