Citation

Mello MM, Wood J, Burris S, Wagenaar AC, Ibrahim JK, Swanson JW. Am. J. Public Health 2013; 103(11): 1979-1988.

Affiliation

At the time this work was conducted, Michelle M. Mello was with the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Jennifer Wood was with the Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Scott Burris was with Beasley School of Law, Temple University. Alexander C. Wagenaar was with the Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville. Jennifer K. Ibrahim was with the Department of Public Health, College of Health Professions and Social Work, Temple University. Jeffrey W. Swanson was with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2013.301281

PMID

24028265

Abstract

Although legal interventions are responsible for many sentinel public health achievements, law is underutilized as a tool for advancing population health. Our purpose was to identify critical opportunities for public health lawmaking. We articulated key criteria and illustrated their use with 5 examples. These opportunities involve significant health problems that are potentially amenable to change through law and for which an effective legal intervention is available: optimizing graduated driver licensing laws, increasing tax rates on alcoholic beverages, regulating sodium in foods, enacting laws to facilitate reversal of opioid overdoses, and improving mental health interventions in the college setting. We call for a national conversation about critical opportunities for public health law to advance evidence-based policymaking. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print September 12, 2013: e1-e10. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301281).

Language: en