Best practices to curb drinking suggested

To help solve the problem of high-risk drinking, the PACE Coalition submitted recommendations to the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee on national best practices in licensed establishments.

As part of a national series of grants to reduce high-risk drinking, PACE (Policy, Alternatives, Community, Education) has access to the best and latest research. This campus effort to limit the negative secondhand effects of high-risk drinking takes an environmental approach to prevention.

“Telling students everything they need to know about alcohol still won’t solve the problem,” says Aaron Brower, a professor of social work and the grant’s principal investigator. “If students are surrounded by cheap alcohol, aggressive advertising and a culture that glorifies drinking, that has far more impact than anything you can say in a brochure.”

Here are highlights:

• Eliminate late-night drink specials. Research shows that, especially for young adults, raising prices lowers consumption.
• Examine advertising practices in student papers. On a campus with many underage students, advertising to students encourages underage drinking.
• Conduct rigorous ID checks when selling alcohol.
• Require responsible alcohol beverage service training for bar owners and servers to prevent overserving.
• Provide food service and non-alcohol beverages. Food consumption slows the blood’s absorption of alcohol.
• Provide affordable, viable, non-alcohol entertainment options, including club-like settings that do not sell alcohol, non-alcohol nights at venues that traditionally sell alcohol, and practices that safely allow underage patrons admittance to shows where alcohol is served.

“The ALRC is currently reexamining the way it grants and reviews licenses,” says Stephanie Rearick, vice chair of the ALRC and a member of the PACE Partnership Council. “We are working toward a more fair and predictable process for licensees, a thriving entertainment and business environment, and increased public safety.”

To view the document and learn more, go to http://pace.uhs.wisc.edu/.