U.S. Must Battle Teen Drinking, Academy Says

America needs to take drastic steps to control an epidemic of teenage drinking that is costing $53 billion a year, the National Academy of Sciences said, calling for curbs on references to alcohol in hip-hop music and movies, harsh penalties on stores that sell alcohol to teens, and steep increases in taxes on beer.

The broadside by the academy’s Institute of Medicine was unusual in its breadth and intensity, and the alcohol industry quickly denounced it as a return to the failed policies of the Prohibition era.