Legal control and alcohol in the United States and India

Arrest data provide an index of public concern regarding alcohol-related activities of certain groups within a society. Any differences in these data may reflect the differences in the extent to which their conduct is viewed and reacted to as problematic behavior requiring legal control. In this paper we compare the official statistics regarding alcohol arrest data of adults and juveniles in the United States, India in general, and a "dry" Indian state, Tamil Nadu. The United States, India, and Tamil Nadu are similar in that the proportion of juveniles arrested for alcohol-related convictions compared to juveniles arrested for all offenses is about the same (i.e., 8%). But proportionately more of the young people, compared with adults, in the United States are subjected to arrest for liquor law violations, although a greater proportion of adults, compared to juveniles, are arrested for public drunkenness. In India generally, and Tamil Nadu in particular, juvenile vis-à-vis adult arrests for liquor law offenses are equal to their proportions in the population. That is, in contrast to India, alcohol law enforcement in the United States is specifically directed at regulating the drinking behavior of young people.