Alcohol-related mortality and tribal alcohol legislation

American Indian alcohol-related mortality rates differ widely among tribes, even within the same geographic region. In addition, there are many different legislative approaches to alcohol beverage control employed by tribes. This paper explores the association between alcohol legislation and alcohol-related mortality rates among American Indian tribes located in a region of the northwestern United States from 1979 to 1990. Both an unweighted analysis of alcohol-related mortality and a weighted analysis, using the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) approach, are used. Alcohol-related mortality rates did not differ significantly between reservations with alcohol prohibition statutes or where alcohol was legal in this region. However, evidence suggests that more comprehensive tribal alcohol legislation may be correlated with lower alcohol-related mortality among American Indian tribes.