Implementing and sustaining effective alcohol-related policies and interventions at the local level: Evidence, challenges and next steps

Alcohol-related problems are evident at all levels. However, it is at the local level where negative impacts are experienced first-hand. In the past decades there have been significant strides in evaluating locally-based alcohol policies and prevention strategies.

This presentation will address three questions: What is known about effective interventions and policies at the local level?   What are the main challenges facing local action on alcohol and how can they be addressed? What does available research tell us about sustainable and efficient local interventions?

This paper draws on evaluated local alcohol policies and community based interventions, from 1990 onward, focusing on several countries where these initiatives have been evaluated: e.g. Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, and in particular the USA. It also draws on examples from US localities that have implemented Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol, and experiences of Drug Free Communities grantees that are pursuing alcohol initiatives.

Community-based initiatives have demonstrated a number of positive outcomes, for example: increased support for restrictions on marketing and price controls; decrease in sales to minors and reduced consumption by youth; reduction in DUI arrests and fatal crashes; decline in violent crimes and assault injuries.   Nevertheless challenges remain: providing a systematic resource of previous local projects so that new initiatives can efficiently benefit from them; providing adequate training, and tools for those undertaken local action on alcohol issues; and, building local coalitions so that expertise and commitment on local alcohol issues is sustained.