260929 Recent updates to laws prohibiting alcohol sales to intoxicated persons (SIP): How can SIP laws become an effective enforcement tool?

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM

James Mosher, JD , Alcohol Policy Consultations, Felton, CA
Elena Cohen, JD , Alcohol Policy Consultations, Felton, CA
Elizabeth Dahl, JD , Alcohol Policy Consultations, Felton, CA
Service and sales practices at alcohol retail establishments, particularly practices relating to service of intoxicated persons (SIP), play a key role in addressing the risk of injury and other harms that arise from excessive alcohol consumption. Research shows that drinking in bars and restaurants is strongly associated with binge drinking and alcohol-impaired driving that can lead to serious public health harms including violent incidents at those establishments and alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. The data suggest that the enforcement of well-designed SIP laws would provide significant public health and safety benefits. Despite its promise, little attention has been given to this prevention strategy. This presentation discusses the most recent research available on SIP laws in the 50 States and the District of Columbia, as of January 2011 and highlights changes that have been made to SIP laws since 2007. It also presents five legal, research-based best practices for SIP regulation and enforcement and identifies the extent to which the States comply with those best practices. The presentation concludes by noting that there is substantial room for improvement in the scope and reach of current SIP laws to promote public health goals and providing recommendations for next steps in terms of implementation, evaluation and research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Community Guide reviewed the available research and concluded there was insufficient evidence to recommend SIP enforcement as a best-practices prevention strategy. This research represents the first step in addressing this gap in the research literature.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe and discuss general trends in Service to Intoxicated Persons (SIP) laws in the last 4 years; identify five best practices for SIP regulation; compare best practices with States’ current laws regulating service to intoxicated persons.

Keywords: Alcohol Problems, Regulations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an attorney who conducted a significant amount of the legal research that constitutes this presentation. I have worked in the field of alcohol policy for 1.5 years and have an extensive background in legal research and public health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.