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This article examines state efforts to regulate alcohol consumption and the effectiveness of that regulation on policy outcomes. The politics of alcohol is examined as a function of the political demands of the alcohol production industry, the alcohol consumption industry, reformist/religious groups, and other state political forces. Efforts to regulate alcohol consumption are predicted well by this model. Efforts to explain drunk driving law changes are not. Restrictions on alcohol sales have a direct impact on alcohol consumption and an indirect impact on heavy drinking. Efforts to limit drunk driving, with one exception, have no impact on the relative level of drunk driving. The lack of policy impact is attributed to the politics of policy adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]