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Data Collection for Alcohol Policy Change

This toolkit was developed to help community organizations, state alcohol policy alliances, and substance use prevention coalitions identify, locate, and use data to support the implementation of alcohol policy campaigns.

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research

There are a number of policy-level strategies that have a strong evidence-base of effectiveness that should be considered when addressing alcohol misuse and related harms. This page describes the most researched strategies and provides resources for you to learn more.

Regulation of Alcohol Outlet Density

The use of licensing or zoning laws allows states and communities to regulate the number of alcohol outlets in a given area. There is significant research showing that the more alcohol outlets, the greater the harms. This applies to both on-premise outlets (such as bars and restaurants) and off-premise outlets (such as grocery stores and liquor stores).

Campbell, C. A., Hahn, R. A., Elder, R., Brewer, R., Chattopadhyay, S., Fielding, J., Naimi, T. S., Toomey, T., Lawrence, B., Middleton, J. C., & Task Force on Community Preventive Services (2009).

The effectiveness of limiting alcohol outlet density as a means of reducing excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms. American journal of preventive medicine, 37(6), 556–569.

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Hahn, R. A., Kuzara, J. L., Elder, R., Brewer, R., Chattopadhyay, S., Fielding, J., ... & Task Force on Community Preventive Services. (2010).

Effectiveness of policies restricting hours of alcohol sales in preventing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. American journal of preventive medicine, 39(6), 590-604.

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Increasing Alcohol Taxes

Research shows that as the price of alcohol increases, consumption and related harms decrease. For example, the amount of liquor consumed would decrease by 7.9% with every 10% increase in price, and the amount of beer consumption would decrease by 5% with every 10% increase in price. Excise taxes can be implemented by the state or federal government, or both. Increasing the price of alcohol also significantly reduced consumption and harms among underage populations. Note: this has been identified as one of the World Health Organization’s three “best buys,” a designation given to policy options that are highly cost effective, feasible, and culturally acceptable to implement.

Chaloupka, F. J., Grossman, M., & Saffer, H. (2002).

The effects of price on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Alcohol research and health, 26(1), 22-34.

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Elder, R. W., Lawrence, B., Ferguson, A., Naimi, T. S., Brewer, R. D., Chattopadhyay, S. K., ... & Task Force on Community Preventive Services. (2010).

The effectiveness of tax policy interventions for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. American journal of preventive medicine, 38(2), 217-229.

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Bloom, D. E., Chisholm, D., Jané-Llopis, E., Prettner, K., Stein, A., & Feigl, A. (2011).

From burden to" best buys": reducing the economic impact of non-communicable disease in low-and middle-income countries (No. 7511). Program on the Global Demography of Aging.

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Maintaining Limits on Days/Hours of Sale

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Treatment and Recovery

Dram Shop Liability

Control States and the 3-Tier System

Enforcement on Sales to Minors

Maintaining Limits on Days/Hours of Sale

Increasing Alcohol Taxes

Regulation of Alcohol Outlet Density