Transcript Underage Drinking

Community Efforts to Address
Alcohol Problems
in the United States
Maria G. Carmona
Center for Policy Analysis and Training
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
March 21, 2003
1
Where does policy change
occur?
Policy change occurs at
 Federal level
 State level
 Local community level
2
What do communties do when
they change alcohol policy?



Identify specific alcohol problem(s)
Identify the causes of problems
Implement interventions to change those
causes
3
Community-based Prevention
Problem
Long-term goal
Perceived causes
Strategies to
address causes
Intermediate Goal
4
Alcohol-Related Problems





Traffic crashes
Cirrhosis
Suicide
Alcohol dependence
Binge drinking




Interpersonal violence
Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome
Work productivity loss
Underage drinking
5
Why do these problems occur?
Four types of community-level causes of
alcohol problems:
1. Alcohol availability
2. Attitudes or social norms about alcohol
use
3. Poor alcohol regulations or policies
4. Lack of alcohol enforcement
6
Availability



What is the availability of alcohol in the
community?
Is alcohol more available for particular segments
of the community?
What is needed to obtain alcohol?
7
Attitudes



What are common attitudes about alcohol use in
the community?
Do attitudes about alcohol use differ across
different ages groups and between genders?
If yes, why do attitudes differ?
8
Regulations or Policies


What regulations control the availability of
alcohol?
What regulations control the promotion of
alcohol?
9
Enforcement



Are alcohol regulations on promotion and
availability enforced?
If not, why?
When someone violates the law, what happens?
10
Example 2: Impaired Driving
Problem
Causes
Strategies
Impaired driving patrols
Lack of impaired
driving enforcement
Alcohol-related
traffic crashes
Easy access to
alcohol
Lack of awareness of
impaired driving laws
High-profile sobriety
checkpoints targeting minors
Merchant education
Increased compliance checks
Public education campaign to
raise awareness of laws and
enforcement efforts
Media coverage of sobriety
checkpoints, community-based
merchant education campaign 11
Example 3: Binge Drinking
Problem
Perceived Causes
High density of bars
Strategies
New ordinance restricting outlet
density
Abundance of Happy Hours
Merchant education
Failure to check IDS
Binge
Drinking
Party Patrols
Older adults providing
alcohol for parties attended
by underage youth
Low perception of risk and
harm from binge drinking
Lack of enforcement of MPA
law
College policy of parental
notification of all alcohol-related
offenses
Compliance checks
Keg registration ordinance
Use of media advocacy with all
interventions.
Two Key Points


Efforts to implement policy change
depend largely on community support for
change.
Media advocacy can be used to generate
community support for change.
13
Community Support


Community support begins with as little as two
dedicated adults or a few passionate teenagers.
Community support is best harnessed through
formation of a coalition of:
–
–
–
Government officials
Representatives of key community organizations
Respected community leaders or opinionmakers
– Parents
– Youth
– Other allies (for example, medical professionals)
14
Media Advocacy


The strategic use of media to advance a
policy goal
Consists of earned media coverage (free!)
or use of free media space
15
Media Advocacy

Coverage of problems and causes can be
used to generate:
–
–
–
–
Discussion about policy change
Awareness of policy change
Support for policy change
Changes in community awareness and attitudes
(or norms)
16
The Utility of Research to
Communities
Baseline data can help communities:
– understand the nature of problems
– raise awareness about the problem.
17
Alcohol and Young People
is a Dangerous Mix
Car crashes are the number one
killer of teens, and one-third to
one-half of those accidents
involve alcohol.
• In 1996, 29 % of Maryland 12th graders
reported driving after drinking alcohol.
• In 1996, 56 % of 12th graders reported
having been a passenger with a driver
who had been drinking alcohol.
Source: Maryland Adolescent Survey
18
In St. Mary’s County,
120 youth entered the
juvenile justice system
on alcohol-related
offenses in 1997.
That’s 4 classrooms of
students.
Source: Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice
19
Liquor stores in Maryland
1056 liquor stores1
213 public high
schools2
178 public libraries3
102 movie theatres1
1
U.S. Census, County business patterns for Maryland, 1996
2 U.S.
Department of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, 1997; data for 1995-1996 school year
3 Maryland
Manual On-line, reporting 1997 data
20
The Utility of Research to
Communities
Follow-up data:
– Documents outcomes
– Enables communities to refine efforts
– Makes it possible to stories to be told
21
Lessons Learned



The experiences of one community inform
other communities.
The experiences of communities inform
efforts directed at the state.
Federal-level policy change happens when
the documented success of communities and
states can no longer be ignored.
22