Using Enforcement to Reduce Underage Drinking

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Using Enforcement to Reduce Underage Drinking
Michael Sparks Alcohol Policy Specialist
Michael_at_sparksInitiatives.com
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Question

• Please answer, in the chat box
• What campus are you from?
• What is your role in prevention?
• Do you work with a coalition?

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Todays Discussion

• Public Health Model of Prevention
• Laws as one type of environmental prevention
• Logic Model of Community Influences of Underage
  Drinking
• The role of law enforcement in reducing underage
  drinking

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Poll 1

• How familiar are you with environmental
  approaches/strategies?
• Very familiar
• Kind of familiar
• Not familiar

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Public Health Model
Individual
Alcohol
Environment
Alcohol-Related Problems
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College Party
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What works Reviews of the U.S.
and global research literature

• CDC Guide to Community Preventive Services

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Policy Approaches to Prevention

• Formal legal and regulatory mechanisms, rules,
  and procedures for reducing risky behaviors
  (e.g., the consumption of alcohol or risky
  drinking behaviors)
• Implementation and enforcement of these measures

Grube Nygaard, 2001 Toomey Wagenaar, 1999
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The Environmental Perspective

• Targets the social, physical or public
  environment where sales/use occurs
• Views alcohol and other drug problems not just as
  individual addiction, but rather as the
  collective reflection of community norms and
  practices
• Targets are policy makers and others with
  authority to change environments
• Seeks to change physical, legal, economic
  social processes of communities

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The Role of Laws in Environmental Prevention
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Purpose of Enforcement of Alcohol Policies

• Decrease availability of alcohol by increasing
  economic costs and opportunity costs
• Deter drinking, heavy drinking, or
  drinking-related problem behaviors
• Moderate relations between drinking and problem
  outcomes

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Laws
Community Norms
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Focus on Enforcement Itself
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Discussion Questions

• What are the conditions in your community that
  require some sort of enforcement action?

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Levels of Enforcement

• Institutional
• Home
• School
• Community
• Neighborhood
• City
• County
• Society
• State
• Federal
• Parent
• Teacher/Administrator
• Association/Watch
• Police
• Sheriff
• ABC, DPS

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Levels of Enforcement

• Institutional
• Home
• School
• Community
• Neighborhood
• City
• County
• Society
• State
• Federal
• Parent
• Teacher/Administrator
• Association/Watch
• Police
• Sheriff
• ABC

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Arrest Rate
Only 2 of every 1000 occasions of underage
drinking result in arrest
Source Wagenaar Wolfson, 1994
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Action Against Outlets
Only 5 of every 100,000 occasions of underage
drinking result in action against outlet.
Source Wagenaar Wolfson, 1994
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Deterrence Theory

• Legal threat of punishment encourages or prevents
  behavior
• Punishment must be
• Certain
• Swift
• Severe
• General and specific deterrence

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Laws are effective when they are perceived as

• Legitimate
• Practical
• Effective
• Proportional to the problem

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The Role of Coalitions in Promoting Effective
Enforcement

• Key Coalition Functions
• Include enforcement agency in all deliberations
  regarding enforcement of policy at the start of
  the policy process
• Build strong organizational and personal
  relationships with key enforcement personnel
• Identify shared self-interest associated with
  enforcement
• Take responsibility for making the case to the
  community for the importance of enforcement
• Creatively collaborate to address enforcements
  financial constraints associated with
  implementation
• Use the media to publically support enforcement
  activities and give credit to enforcement agency
  when they are carried out

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Question

• Can you please type into your chat box examples
  of enforcement strategies you have implemented.

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A Logic Model for Reducing Underage Drinking..
The Role of Enforcement in Impacting
Alcohol-Related Problems
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Underage Drinking Basic Research
Evidence Population Prevention Effects
Strong
Moderate
Low (target group only)
None (no target or population)
Visible Enforcement
Retail Availability of Alcohol to Youth
Alcohol-Related Problems (Traffic crashes,
Injuries, School performance. Unsafe sex,
Violence, etc.)
Price
Social Availability of Alcohol to Youth
Underage Drinking Laws
Underage Drinking
Drinking Beliefs
Community Norms About Youth Drinking
Family, School, and Peer Influence
Drinking Context
Alcohol Promotion (Advertising, Point of Sale
Promotion , Sponsorship of Community Events)
Holder/Saltz Pacific Institute for Research and
Evaluation
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Underage Drinking Evidence-based Theory of
Change
Retailer Training rewards
Compliance checks, citations, license loss
Retail Sale of alcohol to youth
Underage drinking laws
Visible enforcement
Underage Drinking
Social availability of alcohol to youth (parties,
peers, families)
Party patrol, Shoulder taps, Beer keg
registration
Family, School, Peer Influence
Local alcohol policy
Community norms about youth drinking
Legal risks for providing alcohol to underage
Media advocacy
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Does Enforcement Work?
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Minimum Legal Drinking Age
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James Fell et al. The Impact of Underage
Drinking Laws on Alcohol-Related Fatal Crashes
of Young DriversAlcohol Clin Exp Res, 2009

• Methods
• Analysis of the Fatality Analysis Reporting
  System from 1982-2004
• Examined the effects of the minimum legal
  drinking age of 21 on the ratio of drinking to
  non-drinking drivers under age 21 in fatal
  crashes
• Controlled for
• Zero Tolerance Laws
• Graduated License Night Restrictions
• Use/Lose laws
• Administrative License Revocation
• .10, .08 BAC per se
• Mandatory seat belt laws
• Per capita beer consumption
• Unemployment rate
• Vehicle miles traveled
• Frequency of sobriety checkpoints
• Number of licensed drivers
• Ratio of drinking to non-drinking drivers
• Age 26 in fatal crashes
• Ratio of drinking to non-drinking drivers age 26
  in fatal crashes

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Fell et al., Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2009 (cont)

• Results
• Minimum legal drinking age was independently
  associated with a 16 decline in the ratio of
  drinking to non-drinking drivers in fatal crashes
  under age 21
• Other laws that independently predicted lower
  involvement of drinking drivers under age 21 in
  fatal crashes
• Use/Lose laws ?5
  
• Zero tolerance laws ?5
• 0.08 BAC limit ? 8
• 0.10 BAC limit ? 7
• Administrative license ? 5
• revocation (ALR)
• Seat belt laws ? 3

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Fell et al., Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2009 (cont)

• Conclusions
• Minimum legal drinking age of 21 reduced
  involvement of drinking drivers under 21 in fatal
  crashes (16)
• Zero tolerance laws and Use/Lose laws targeted
  drivers under 21 also produced reductions
• Laws targeting drinking drivers of all ages also
  reduced involvement of drinking drivers under 21
  in fatal crashes (0.08 and .10 BAC limits, ALR,
  seat belt laws)

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but theres more than just minimum legal
drinking age laws!
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DUI Enforcement

• General vs specific enforcement
• Sobriety checkpoints
• Saturation patrols
• Revocation/suspension
• Ignition interlock
• Last drink
• Check-in programs

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Sobriety Checkpoints

• Restrict traffic flow in a designated area and
  check drivers for signs of impairment
• Primarily general deterrence increase perceived
  risk
• High visibility media coverage
• Random breath test vs selective
• Blitz vs regular
• Shults, Elder, Sleet et al (2001)
• Review studies from 1980-2000
• 12 RBT studies average 18 decrease across
  outcomes
• 11 SBT studies average 20 decrease across
  outcomes

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• Recently updated previous checkpoint review
• Added 15 studies from 2000-2012
• 10 studies examined alcohol-involved
• fatal crashes -gt 8.9 decrease
• Other 5 studies found decreases in
• drivers above .08 (28-64)
• alcohol-involved fatalities/VMT (4.6)
• alcohol-involved collisions (19)
• nighttime crashes (22)
• Task Force Finding
• The Community Preventive Services Task Force
  recommends publicized sobriety checkpoint
  programs based on strong evidence of
  effectiveness in reducing alcohol-impaired
  driving.

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DUI CheckpointsKey Resourcehttp//www.nhtsa.gov
/people/injury/alcohol/saturation_patrols/SatPats2
002.pdfCommon Challenges

1. Generating community/political will
2. Finding overtime dollars for police
3. Ensuring training on checkpoint best-practices
4. Supporting development of materials for
   dissemination at checkpoint
5. Ensuring visibility -- using media to publicize
   checkpoints before and after event

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Upstream DUI Enforcement

• It is too late once an intoxicated individual
  gets behind the wheel
• It is difficult to identify and apprehend
  intoxicated drivers
• It has been estimated that less than 1/1000 DUI
  trips results in an arrest (Miller, Spicer, Levy,
  Lestina, 1998)
• Car crashes are but one of the many negative
  health consequences associated with intoxication
• Focusing exclusively on DUI enforcement may send
  the message that, as long as someone is not
  driving, it is OK to get intoxicated

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Poll 2

• Have your coalition/group participated in
  sobriety checkpoints?

• Yes
• No

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Underage Compliance Checks

• Sting or Decoy buys
• Police hire an underage (lt21 years old)
  individual to attempt to purchase alcohol
• If an illegal sale is made, citation issued to
  either the seller or the establishment
• Penalty may vary from warning to a fine to a
  liquor license suspension/revocation (usually
  depending on previous citations)

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Compliance Check Effectiveness

• Growing research literature that compliance
  checks are effective
• CDC conducted a review of studies that examined
  enhanced enforcement programs that increased
  or intended to increase frequency of compliance
  checks
• 8 studies from 1994-2005
• all 8 studies examined sales to a decoy
• average 42 reduction
• 3 studies examined alcohol consumption
• 20 reduction
• 2-7 reduction
• 4-6 relative decrease

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Compliance Check Effectiveness

• Task Force Finding
• The Community Preventive Services Task Force
  recommends enhanced enforcement of laws
  prohibiting sale of alcohol to minors, on the
  basis of sufficient evidence of effectiveness in
  limiting underage alcohol purchases. Further
  research will be required to assess the degree to
  which these changes in retailer behavior affect
  underage drinking.

source Elder, Lawrence, Janes, et al. (2007).
Enhanced enforcement of laws prohibiting sale of
alcohol to minors systematic review of
effectiveness for reducing sales and underage
drinking. Transportation Research E-Circular
2007Issue E-C123181-8.
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Compliance Checks Key Resourcehttp//www.udetc.
org/aps/ComplianceChkDB.htmCommon Challenges

1. Generating community/political support
2. Generating police support
3. Finding overtime dollars for police
4. Convincing state Liquor Control to partner
5. Building support for prosecuting violators

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Poll 3

• Has your coalition/group supported or sponsored
  compliance check?

• Yes
• No

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Party Patrols/Social Host Laws
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Problem Setting Residential Parties
Party Patrols/Social Host Laws
Son held drunken party for 600 friends after
banishing parents to bedroom of their
multi-million-dollar mansion By Mail Foreign
ServiceUPDATED 2055 EST, 14 October 2010
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Intent of Social Host Policies

• Change community CULTURE and CONDITIONS
• Change the FOCUS from underage drinker to
  provider/enabler
• Decrease PROVISION
• Decrease furnishing alcohol to an underage person
• Change CONTEXT and SETTING
• Deter underage drinking parties

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Social Host the Evidence

• Viewed as a useful tool by law enforcement
  officers (Oceanside, CA and Vista, CAsee
  Evalcorp, 2009a)
• May result in changes in youth norms related to
  the riskiness of drinking (Long Beach City,
  NYunpublished data)
• May result in fewer calls for service, either
  overall, or related to disturbances. For
  example, Petaluma, CA had 9.3 fewer calls for
  service related to disturbances from the year
  prior to passage (2006) to the second year after
  passage (2009) (Petaluma, CAunpublished data).
• San Diego County had 8 fewer disturbance calls
  from the year preceding passage (2002) to the
  year following passage (2004) of its SHO (UDETC,
  2003)

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Party Patrols

• Enforcement strategy that targeting community
  high priority underage drinking party areas.
• arranged to both deter parties (through LE
  visibility) and find and address parties that are
  going on (through LE action).
• Law enforcement reports that party patrols can be
  effective deterrents if there are existing
  laws on the books that hold adults or
  other responsible parties accountable for
  underage drinking parties in homes.

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Party Dispersal

• An ongoing party is often difficult for officers
  to break it up with maximum impact on deterring
  underage parties from happening in the future and
  preventing teens from fleeing the scene.
• Party dispersal training gives officers
  and departments a strong foundation
  to systematically address parties
  and hold underage drinkers and
  providers responsible.

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Landlord Lease Agreements

• Language that landlords include in leases that
  prohibit underage parties from occurring.
• There are often fines and penalties that escalate
  to eviction.
• Can effectively reduce the number of rental
  properties in which loud and unruly parties
  occur if, strongly enforced and adopted by
  all/most landlords.

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Party Patrols/Social Host Laws Key
Resourcehttp//www.udetc.org/documents/Party_Pat
rol_Guidebook.pdfhttp//venturacountylimits.org.s
94613.gridserver.com/resource_documents/model_sho_
fnl_nashville.pdfCommon Challenges

1. Identifying/adopting policy to enforce
2. Generating community/political support for policy
3. Generating police support to use resources
4. Finding overtime dollars for police
5. Training law enforcement to use enforcement
   techniques
6. Building support for prosecuting violators

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Poll 4

• Has your coalition/group supported or sponsored
  party patrols?

• Yes
• No

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Poll 5

• Has your coalition/group supported or sponsored
  the adoption of a social host ordinance?

• Yes
• No

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Three Enforcement Strategies Frequently Used By
Coalitions

1. Compliance checks for sales to minors at
   off-premise outlets
2. Party patrols/social host laws
3. DUI checkpoints

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Poll 6

• Which of these strategies are you most interested
  in considering?
• DUI Checkpoints
• Party Patrols
• Social Host Laws
• Compliance Checks
• Landlord Lease Agreements

WHY?????
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Questions About Enforcement Strategies to
ReduceAlcohol Related Problems?
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Safer California UniversitiesProject Goal

• To evaluate the efficacy of aRisk Management
  approach to alcohol problem prevention
• NIAAA grant R01 AA12516with support from
  CSAP/SAMHSA.
• Bob Saltz

Prevention Research Center
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Integrated Intervention Strategies for Off-Campus
Parties

• Compliance Checks
• DUI Check Points
• Party Patrols
• Pass Social Host Response Cost Ordinance
• A Social Host Safe Party Campaign

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Practical Significance

• At each campus, 900 fewer students drinking to
  intoxication at off-campus parties and 600 fewer
  getting drunk at bars/restaurants during the fall
  semester at intervention schools relative to
  controls.
• Equivalent to 6,000 fewer incidents of
  intoxication at off-campus parties and 4,000
  fewer incidents at bars restaurants during the
  fall semester at Safer intervention schools
  relative to controls

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In addition No Displacement
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SoWhat are the Implications for Your Coalition?
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Thank You!