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Studies & Papers

Institute of Medicine Report on Reducing Underage Drinking
Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility, a joint report by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it.
(link goes to specfic page on IOM web site)


SAMSHA: Preventing Problems Related to Alcohol Availability: Environmental Approaches
The Prevention Enhancement Protocols System (PEPS) series was initiated to systematically evaluate both research and practice evidence on substance abuse prevention and make recommendations for the field. In doing so, PEPS strives to maximize the prevention efforts of State substance abuse prevention agencies, practitioners, and local communities.
(link goes to specific page on SAMHSA web site)


A Matter of Degree Advocacy Initiative: Case Histories in Reducing High-Risk Drinking Among College Students
Universities and community groups can work together to change local public policies to reduce alcohol problems. This book presents the case histories of how four campus-community coalitions in Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Vermont worked in 2000-02 through media advocacy, strategic planning and community organizing to help change policies and the community environments that affect student high-risk drinking.


Lehigh University's Project IMPACT
(A Matter of Degree program): An Environmental Management Case Study.

(link goes to pdf file on the IMPACT web site)


Alcohol Restrictions at Community Events
Issue Paper from LSU Campus Community Coalition for Change addresses rationale for alcohol restrictions at community events, policy solutions, existing alcohol restrictions at community events, and community and state surveys supporting alcohol restrictions.


Effectiveness of Public Health Strategies to Reduce College Binge Drinking and Underage Alcohol Use
This study summarizes a number of public health strategies to reduce alcohol abuse and their level of effectiveness based on existing research. Because of their relative newness, some strategies have not been fully tested or evaluated. In most cases, however, these strategies are based on well-established prevention principles or are similar to other strategies that have been scientifically proven to reduce tobacco use and other high-risk behaviors.



Addressing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) in College Communities

Enforcement of age-21 laws has multiple ramifications in college settings, where underage students, often a majority on campus, co-mingle with students of legal age. College administrators face serious questions about how and whether to enforce the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). They must balance safety, liability, and law-enforcement responsibilities with universities’ historic role as havens of personal freedom, experimentation, and student self-expression and individual responsibility.



Partner or Foe?
The Alcohol Industry, Youth Alcohol Problems, and Alcohol Policy Strategies:
This briefing paper offers a guide to public health professionals and activists for understanding and responding to the alcohol industry's public awareness and education initiatives. It provides a description of the industry's structure and market; a review of the industry's marketing strategies; an introduction to the environmental approach to prevention; an analysis of industry awareness and education programs, and recommendations for negotiating with and responding to industry prevention initiatives.
Policy Briefing Paper ©2002 American Medical Association


The Perils of Preemption:
State preemption has become a critical issue for the alcohol policy field. Community activists across the country have successfully encouraged local policy makers to enact ordinances that restrict various problematic alcohol marketing practices. Local governments have restricted alcohol billboards; limited the number, location, and type of alcohol outlets; imposed fees on local retailers to fund public nuisance abatement activities; and increased local alcohol taxes, among other strategies to address alcohol problems at the community level.
Policy Briefing Paper ©2001 American Medical Association


Restricting Minors' Access to Bars
In many states throughout the country, minors – those under the legal drinking age of 21 – are permitted in bars unaccompanied by an adult. State and local regulations vary widely in the extent to which they permit minors to enter on-sale retail alcohol outlets (Inspector General 1991). While some states may restrict minors’ access to bars and nightclubs, they may allow them into restaurants that serve alcohol. Others may prohibit minors from entering any establishment licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.
Includes facts, policy solutions and references


The Relationship Between Alcohol Availability and Injury and Crime
There is a growing body of research that shows what many people already know: areas with more alcohol outlets (a business or location where alcoholic beverages are sold) tend to experience more alcohol-related injury and crime. Incidents of sexual and other assaults, domestic violence, child abuse, youth violence, homicides, alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, and drunk driving have all been shown to increase when the availability of alcohol increases.
Includes facts, policy solutions and references



The Effects of Environmental Factors on Alcohol Use and Abuse
Public health experts and practitioners have learned that the environment in which people live and work heavily affects their attitudes and behavior around drinking. Environmental influences on alcohol use include: acceptance of alcohol use by society; availability (including price, number of outlets, and server practices); advertising and marketing both nationally and locally; and public policies regarding alcohol and enforcement of those policies. Includes facts, policy solutions and references.



Brain Comparison Images from Tapert SF, Brown GG, Kindermann SS, Cheung EH, Frank LR, Brown SA (2001). fMRI Measurement of Brain Dysfunction in Alcohol-Dependent Young Women. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 25 (2):236-245.



The Impact of Alcohol Pricing and Promotional Activities on High-Risk Drinking
Literature review and list of states that address price discounting of alcohol, and brief descriptions of how the states address the issue.