NCJ Number
195887
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 31 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 2001 Pages: 857-866
Editor(s)
Bruce Bullington
Date Published
2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of intervention strategies to deter underage alcohol sales by targeting alcohol retailers instead of underage youth.
Abstract
The general deterrence strategy of fines and/or license revocation or suspensions, as applied to the sellers of alcohol, indirectly targets youth by reducing the availability of alcohol. The study was conducted in the City of New Orleans, covering 143 off-sale alcohol outlets, in association with the Louisiana Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and was well covered by the media. Three waves of compliance checks were conducted at each outlet, the first baseline checks were conducted from November 1995 through January 1996, the second wave checks were conducted from April 1996 through May 1996, and the final wave was conducted from December 1996 through January 1997. The results showed that the deterrence intervention that resulted in the most compliance with the minimum drinking age by alcohol outlets was the issuance of citations for non-compliance. Outlets that were only exposed to news coverage of the issuing of citations also greatly increased their rate of compliance. This media effect lasted for 9 months. As no data were collected on the effects of the compliance check campaign on youth purchase attempts, it is recommended that future evaluations of alcohol awareness campaigns should look at the impact on youth as well as merchants. 2 Figures, 1 table, and 11 references