Enforcing Alcohol Laws: Reducing Over-Consumption

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This three-year research project studies the impact of enforcing laws that restrict drink special practices and prohibit sales to intoxicated persons on the serving practices of retail, on-premise alcohol establishments-high-risk venues for alcohol-related problems. Research shows that: (1) reforming server practices can reduce over-consumption of alcohol by patrons, in turn reducing alcohol-related harms; and (2) enforcing laws that prohibit risky server behavior increases compliance with the laws. The study will examine the efficacy of three levels of enforcement in one state, Virginia. The non-control levels of enforcement will both include a warning letter to alcohol outlets, but will vary in the number of undercover operations conducted by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The specific aims of the study are to determine whether: (1) increased enforcement results in higher compliance with sales to intoxicated patrons and drink special laws; and (2) increased compliance can be achieved by minimal levels of enforcement. Thirty-six Virginia communities will be assigned to the three enforcement categories using a group randomized trial design. Pre- and post-intervention outcome data will be collected in randomly selected establishments (15 per community). Data collection will be done by research team members posing as intoxicated patrons (to test compliance with sales to intoxicated laws), as well as attempting to place orders in violation of Virginia's drink special laws (such as " two-for-one" specials). Analysis of the resulting data will not only address enforcement levels and compliance rates, but will examine whether the magnitude and statistical significance of the enforcement intervention effects vary by community size or the percent of the population that is college-aged. The study evaluates an intervention that is implemented in real world conditions and represents a rare collaboration between law enforcement agencies, legal researchers, and public health scholars. This study will break new ground by not only examining the impact of enforcing drink special laws, but also by studying drink special laws in tandem with sales to intoxicated persons laws. The enforcement of these laws has great promise for reducing serious public health problems.