Historical Context
Selected Milestones in Alcohol Research, Prevention and Surveillance
| 1970 | Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act (also known as the Hughes Act) as signed into law and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism was established. |
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| 1971 | First Special Report on Alcohol and Health presented to the U.S. Congress, summarized the cumulative body of alcohol research findings to date. |
| 1977 | First government health advisory on Fetal Alcoholism Spectrum Disorders was issued. |
| 1980 | Promoting Health, Preventing Disease. Objectives for the Nation was published. This was the Nation’s first set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 1990, and included objectives for reducing harmful levels of alcohol use). |
| 1981 | Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Pregnancy was published. |
| 1984 | Enactment of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Act, making 21 the minimum age that a person could buy or drink alcohol across all 50 states. Prior to this, drinking age varied by state. |
| 1987 | Alcohol Awareness Month (April) campaign launched by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD)external icon to increase awareness and understanding of alcoholism, its causes, effective treatment and recovery. |
| 1988 | Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act was passed, requiring that alcoholic beverage containers be labeled with health warnings about drinking during pregnancy and while operating a car or other machinery. |
| 1989 | Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) was initiated by NIAAA. |
| 1990 | Healthy People 2000 Health Objectives for the Nation was published. This was the second set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 2000, and included objectives for reducing risky alcohol use. |
| 1999 | First National Alcohol Screening Day |
| 2000 | 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health. Presented evidence for the biological basis of alcoholism. |
| 2000 | Healthy People 2010 Health Objectives for the Nation was published. This was the third set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 2010, and included objectives for reducing risky alcohol use. |
| 2007 | The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinkingexternal icon |
| 2010 | National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuseexternal icon celebrated 40 years of alcohol research. |
| 2010 | Healthy People 2020 Health Objectives for the Nation. (Launched Dec 2, 2010.) This was the fourth set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 2020. Included objectives for reducing risky alcohol use. |
| 2010 | CDC Vital Signs series was launched, with a number of issues focused on alcohol topics of public health interest (binge drinking, underage drinking, alcohol poisoning, alcohol and pregnancy). |
| 2014 | World Health Organization (WHO). Global status report on alcohol and healthpdf iconexternal icon, p. XIII. 2014 ed. Published. |
Page last reviewed: March 6, 2018
Content source: National Center for Health Statistics