ALCOHOL CONTROL POLICY DESCRIPTIONS
Contributors: Traci Toomey, Kathleen Lenk, Alexander Wagenaar, John Gehan, Judy Meath, Becky Mitchell, Lara Pratt,
Catherine Rothstein, Sara Veblen-Mortenson
To effectively prevent or reduce social and health problems associated with alcohol use, public health researchers address alcohol-related problems at the population level by promoting and evaluating alcohol control policies. Policies can be defined as standards for behavior or practice that are formalized to some degree, and are embodied in rules, regulations, or operating procedures.
Alcohol control policies include ". . .the entire constellation of laws and regulations at the federal, state, county, and city levels that affect how alcoholic beverages are manufactured, packaged, distributed, sold, and consumed (Wagenaar & Farrell, 1989)." These policies can alter dimensions of the environment that promote overall consumption as well as hazardous patterns of alcohol use (e.g., drinking and driving). The links below lead to descriptions of a variety of alcohol control policies to: 1) reduce youth access to alcohol, 2) reduce sales to intoxicated patrons, and 3) restrict alcohol advertising. This is not an exhaustive list of such alcohol policies, but rather a range of policies that could be used to reduce the risk of alcohol problems by altering the way alcohol is sold, marketed, and consumed.
Our goal is to provide researchers and public health advocates with a brief description of a wide range of alcohol control policies and a basic structure in which to place them.
Policies to Reduce Youth Access to Alcohol
Policies to Restrict Alcohol Advertising
Policies to Reduce Sales to Intoxicated Patrons
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