Physical Availability: What is It and How Can We Address It

Traci L. Toomey, PhD

Division of Epidemiology & Community Health

University of Minnesota

Policy/Program

Alcohol-related

ProblemsAvailability

Rates and

Patterns of

Consumption

Availability

• Physical• Economic• Legal

Place: Physical Availability

• Density of alcohol establishments• Types of licensed alcohol establishments

& other venues• Alcohol service at licensed venues• Days & hours of sale• Non-licensed locations

Density of Alcohol Establishments• Number of establishments per:

–Population–Roadway mile–Geographic area (including around

campuses)• Density important at smaller geographic

units than community or state

Density of Alcohol Establishments

• Higher density associated with more:– Violence– Property crime– Other crime– Public drunkeness– Noise– Negative health outcomes (e.g., sexually

transmitted diseases)

Potential Strategies

• Use local and state policies to restrict total number of alcohol establishments

• Use licensing and zoning laws to limit density in specific areas

• Promote other types of economic development

Types of Licensed Alcohol Venues

• On-premise (e.g., bars, restaurants)• Off-premise (e.g., liquor & grocery stores)• Community events (e.g., festivals)• Stadiums (e.g., professional, college)

Alcohol Service at Licensed Venues

• Sales to underage• Over-service of alcohol• Promotion of heavy drinking

–Drink specials–Promotion of drinking games

Propensity of Sales to Underage

18%23%

50% 50%

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rat

e o

f S

ale

(%)

Festivals

Early 2000s

Bars/restaurants

Early 1990s

Bars/restaurants

Late 1990s

Stadiums

Mid 2000s

Propensity of Sales to Intoxicated

74%

89%79%

65%

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rat

e o

f S

ale

(%)

Festivals

Early 2000s

Bars/restaurants

Early 1990s

Bars/restaurants

Early 2000s

Stadiums

Mid 2000s

Over Service Contributes to Problems

• Drinking and driving• Violence in and

around establishments

Intervention

•Compliance•Deterrence

Server/ClerkBehavior

•Confiscate false ID•Refuse sales to youth

Internal MerchantPolicies

• ID Checking• Server Training• Monitoring System

Alcohol SaleLaws

ReduceAvailability

Prevent Illegal Alcohol Sales

ReduceConsumption

&Related

Problems

Potential Strategies: Training• Server/manager training• Less promising for preventing sales to

underage• More promising for preventing over service

– May reduce BAC levels of patrons– May prevent sales to obviously intoxicated patrons

• May have short-term effects

Potential Strategies: Enforcement

• Compliance checks effective for preventing sales to underage – Need to conduct more than once or twice per year– Need to check all establishments

• Enforcement for over-service is more complex– Need more research to evaluate

Potential Strategies: Dram Shop Liability

• State law or case law allows lawsuits targeting establishment owner or server for illegal alcohol service–Potential limitations: (1) compensation caps,

(2) imposed statue of limitations, (3) evidence required

–RBS training should not negate dram shop liability

Days & Hours of Sale

• More days of sale = more problems• A few more hours of sale = shift in timing of

problems• Greater than few hours of sale = more

problems

Potential Strategies

• Use state & local policies:–Maintain current restrictions on days of sale–Maintain or reduce hours of sale

Non-licensed Locations

• Parties and other social events at:–Tailgating events –Parks–Houses–Hotels–Residence halls–Etc.

Tailgating

Odds of BAC > 0.08

4.7 times higher if

tailgated

Parties

• Parties are a common source of alcohol for underage youth

• Parties occur in many different locations

Potential Strategies

• Institutional policies– Restrictions on room rentals– Alcohol/keg bans on campuses

• Local/State policies– Restrictions on use of alcohol in parks– Keg registration– Social host laws– Noisy assembly laws– Ban tailgating

• Increased enforcement

www.epi.umn.edu/alcoholUniversity of Minnesota