Research Basis
Recent research documents the significant health and safety problems posed by illegal and high-risk alcohol consumption. This applied policy-oriented conference will consider the health and safety status of communities in relation to alcohol use, explore evidence-based solutions, and recommend how further policy strategies might diminish alcohol-related risks. Conference presentations will address a range of concerns, including the following:
- Minors and alcoholic beverages are a volatile combination – a mix that can lead to foolish choices, destructive behavior, and lives that are ruined or lost. Alcohol plays a part in teen assaults, rapes, murders, thefts, and suicides and is a major factor in automobile crashes and fatalities involving teens. (U.S. Department of Justice, 2001)
- Underage access to alcohol. As described in the 2003 Institute of Medicine report and in findings from an August 2005 American Medical Association poll, underage drinking is an adult problem, as adults control availability in the home and adult-led communities set policies for sales and service.
- "Policies and law enforcement efforts to stop minors from obtaining alcohol are important, but this data reveals how easily avoided those policies and laws can be when legal-aged buyers are the leading source of alcohol for children," according to Edward Hill, president of the American Medical Association on the August 2005 release of a findings from two national surveys of teens, 13-18. "And even parents who do not buy for their children could be unwitting sources if their alcohol at home.
- High-risk drinking rates, alcohol-related unintentional injuries, the proportion reporting driving under the influence, among college students, ages 18-24, are increasing, Hingson et al., concluded in their 2005 Annual Review of Public Health article, recommending greater enforcement of drinking laws, increased alcohol excise taxes, and comprehensive community-level interventions.
- Strategies for avoiding adverse risks to communities have and are being researched and demonstrated as effective. NIAAA’s 2002 report on college drinking, A Call to Action, identifies a number of effective practices, including enforcement of underage drinking laws, regulating cheap price promotions, limiting density of outlets, raising alcohol taxes, responsible beverage service, and campus-community coalitions.
- Communities with high concentrations of alcohol outlets are at a disadvantage, since the density of such outlets is associated with higher alcohol consumption, violence, other crime, and health problems.
- Many communities are stepping up to control alcohol availability through community measures such as alcohol retail fees, social host ordinances, conditional use permits, and promotion of community-wide coalitions to collect and analyze surveillance data, with leadership evident from mayors and other elected officials. Colleges and military installations are among stakeholders joining in these community-wide coalitions.
Funding for this conference is made possible in part by grant no. 1 H13 SP13595-01 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.