Bars, Not Liquor Stores, Linked to Heavy Drinking

Traditionally, the number of liquor stores in a community is a sign of excessive alcohol consumption, but a new California study found that bars and nightclubs, not package stores, are linked to heavy drinking in adults who live in the neighborhood. This is especially true when the clubs are adult-only and do not allow minors.

Researchers from the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, California, found that "minor-restricted establishments" had the most consistent and sizeable effect on the level of adult alcohol abuse in the area.

"If the number of minor-restricted establishments increases, on average, from zero to two in a neighborhood, the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking in the past 30 days would increase from 11.1 percent to 14.3 percent among women and from 19.6 percent to 22.0 percent among men; and prevalence of riding with a driver who perhaps had too much to drink would increase from 2.9 percent to 4.1 percent among women and 4.0 percent to 5.5 percent among men," said author Khoa Truong, PhD, http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/bc-lbn111407.php">in a news release.

Limiting Bars Recommended

Truong said the research brings into question the effectiveness of laws that limit total retail alcohol licenses based on general population numbers, when it might be better to limit certain types of licenses instead.

"What's usually happening is that alcohol outlets are regulated at broader environments. It turns out that the action happens within a micro environment," said Truong.

The study, "Alcohol Outlets and Problem Drinking Among Adults in California" was published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Related Information:

• Local Bars, Not Liquor Stores, Associated With Heavy Drinking
  
• Treatment and Rehab Centers
  
• Twelve Step Recovery
  
• Non-Step Support Groups

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