Best practices in alcohol policy for cities and counties: Ventura County, California, as a model for regulating the social availability of alcohol to youth and reducing alcohol-related harms from licensed retail outlets

In the last several years, Ventura County, California, has engaged in a collaborative county-wide effort of government officials in public health, law enforcement, education, along with other community leaders, to reduce underage drinking, binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems from licensed alcohol outlets. In 2005 and 2006, a model social host liability ordinance was developed by the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department and the PIRE Center for the Study of Law and Enforcement Policy and then enacted in various forms by the county, in most of its incorporated cities, and in many other communities both within and outside of California. In 2007, the VCBH/PIRE-CSLEP collaboration developed best practices guides in alcohol policy for cities and counties to address retailer liability for illegal alcohol sales and alcohol misuse, including the creation of additional model ordinances on social host liability, conditional use permits for new alcohol outlets, deemed approved activities of existing alcohol outlets, and responsible beverage server training.