SWEDEN HAS A LONG HISTORY of restrictive alcohol policy, including strict regulation of sales hours. In February 2000, however, sales hours were extended from 5 to 6 days per week by allowing the Alcohol monopoly stores in certain parts of the country to be open on Saturdays. In this article we will assess the impact of this reform on alcohol sales and harm indicators.
A substantial body of literature on the effects of alcohol availability on consumption and alcohol-related problems has accumulated in recent years. Although there are exceptions, many of these studies suggest that reduced availability may have the effect of decreasing consumption and problem rates, and vice versa (cf., Edwards et al., 1994, for a review). In fact, the typical alcohol consumer seems to operate according to the principle of least effort (Zipf, 1949): The greater the effort required to obtain alcohol, the less the consumer will drink. It cannot be assumed, however, that all consumers act according to this principle, and those who do need not do so at all times. To explain the observed aggregate outcomes, it is sufficient that the likelihood of consuming alcohol on a particular occasion is reduced for at least a substantial subgroup of consumers when access is reduced. And to explain the observed effects of decreased accessibility on harm indicators, one needs to assume the subgroup that reduces its consumption is not entirely composed of drinkers who did not experience any risk at the outset.
A substantial body of literature on the effects of alcohol availability on consumption and alcohol-related problems has accumulated in recent years. Although there are exceptions, many of these studies suggest that reduced availability may have the effect of decreasing consumption and problem rates, and vice versa (cf., Edwards et al., 1994, for a review). In fact, the typical alcohol consumer seems to operate according to the principle of least effort (Zipf, 1949): The greater the effort required to obtain alcohol, the less the consumer will drink. It cannot be assumed, however, that all consumers act according to this principle, and those who do need not do so at all times. To explain the observed aggregate outcomes, it is sufficient that the likelihood of consuming alcohol on a particular occasion is reduced for at least a substantial subgroup of consumers when access is reduced. And to explain the observed effects of decreased accessibility on harm indicators, one needs to assume the subgroup that reduces its consumption is not entirely composed of drinkers who did not experience any risk at the outset.
Misuse of alcohol is a significant public health problem, potentially resulting in unintentional injuries, motor vehicle crashes, drownings, and, perhaps of greatest concern, serious acts of violence, including assaults, rapes, suicides, and homicides. Although previous research establishes a link between alcohol consumption increased levels of violence, studies relating the density of alcohol outlets (e.g., restaurants, bars, liquor stores) and the likelihood of violent crime have been less common. In this paper we test for such a relationship at the small area level, using data from 79 neighborhoods in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. We adopt a fully Bayesian point of view using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) computational methods as available in the popular and freely available WinBUGS language. Our models control for important covariates (e.g., neighborhood racial heterogeneity, age heterogeneity) and also account for spatial association in unexplained variability using conditionally autoregressive (CAR) random effects. Our results indicate a significant positive relationship between alcohol outlet density and violent crime, while also permitting easy mapping of neighborhood-level predicted and residual values, the former useful for intervention in the most at-risk neighborhoods and the latter potentially useful in identifying covariates still missing from the fixed effects portion of the model.
The present study represents an attempt to evaluate a specific component of an alcohol and drug program, employee education. Two groups of employees at a moderate- sized manufacturing plant in Southern Ontario were surveyed as to their alcohol knowledge prior to, and following, an educational seminar. A group of 161 hourly-rate employees and a group of 67 front-line supervisors, department heads, shop stewards and union bargaining committee members participated in the study. It was found that educational seminars of relatively brief duration are an effective means of increasing employees' alcohol knowledge and awareness, their familiarity with a company's alcohol and drug policy, and the likelihood of their using established company programs for substance abuse.
(C)1981 The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Most studies of the effects of structural constraints have been concerned with legal (e.g., age limits), economic (e.g., taxation) and physical factors (e.g., outlet density). However, a few reported studies have looked at the effects of changes in hours and days of sale. A study in Australia by Smith (1987, 1988) measured the effects on traffic accident incidence of introducing Sunday alcohol sales in New South Wales and Brisbane. Although these studies have some methodological shortcomings, they do suggest a certain effect. Olsson and Wikstr6m (1982) evaluated the introduction of Saturday closing of monopoly outlets in Sweden in 1981 and found a decline in certain harm indicators, such as domestic violence and outdoor assaults, but no clear-cut indication of decreased per capita alcohol consumption. In a study from Norway, Nordlund et al. (1984) reported similar findings. A possible explanation for these results could be that only very marginalized drinkers were affected. These deviant groups might be responsible for a significant share of violence but for only a tiny share of per capita consumption. Another possibility might be that the methods used in these studies were not strong enough to uncover real changes in consumption (i.e., type II error).
Since harm indicators decreased when the shops in Sweden closed on Saturdays in 1981, one would perhaps expect that the same indicators would increase when the shops were reopened in 2000. However, many other things changed in the intervening years, and one cannot assume a priori that the effect of changes in opening hours is independent of context. For instance, the number of licensed restaurants, pubs, bars, etc., increased substantially during this period, as did illegal trade in alcoholic beverages (Kuhlhorn et al., 1999). It is consequently necessary to evaluate the effects of the present reform in some detail.
Method
The Parliamentary bill on Saturday opening stated that before any permanent change was implemented a trial would be run in part of the country and the outcome evaluated after 1 year. The present authors were commissioned to design and perform the evaluation, which was expected to comprise both sales of alcoholic beverages and indicators of harmful effects of alcohol consumption.
To optimize the likelihood of uncovering effects, a design with experimental and control regions was chosen. The research design and the selection of experimental and control areas were dictated mainly by the following considerations:
* Since possible intervention effects may be contingent on factors such as urbanization and geographical location, the experimental areas should include a range of structural characteristics.
* To minimize random fluctuations in harm indicators, the experimental regions would have to be fairly large. In small regions the absolute number of incidents would be small and random fluctuations consequently large.
* Regarding the estimation of effects on sales, an obvious methodological problem is that of trade leakage; that is, that people living outside experimental areas might travel to an experimental area on Saturdays to purchase alcohol. Therefore, ...
The present study represents an attempt to evaluate a specific component of an alcohol and drug program, employee education. Two groups of employees at a moderate- sized manufacturing plant in Southern Ontario were surveyed as to their alcohol knowledge prior to, and following, an educational seminar. A group of 161 hourly-rate employees and a group of 67 front-line supervisors, department heads, shop stewards and union bargaining committee members participated in the study. It was found that educational seminars of relatively brief duration are an effective means of increasing employees' alcohol knowledge and awareness, their familiarity with a company's alcohol and drug policy, and the likelihood of their using established company programs for substance abuse.
(C)1981 The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Most studies of the effects of structural constraints have been concerned with legal (e.g., age limits), economic (e.g., taxation) and physical factors (e.g., outlet density). However, a few reported studies have looked at the effects of changes in hours and days of sale. A study in Australia by Smith (1987, 1988) measured the effects on traffic accident incidence of introducing Sunday alcohol sales in New South Wales and Brisbane. Although these studies have some methodological shortcomings, they do suggest a certain effect. Olsson and Wikstr6m (1982) evaluated the introduction of Saturday closing of monopoly outlets in Sweden in 1981 and found a decline in certain harm indicators, such as domestic violence and outdoor assaults, but no clear-cut indication of decreased per capita alcohol consumption. In a study from Norway, Nordlund et al. (1984) reported similar findings. A possible explanation for these results could be that only very marginalized drinkers were affected. These deviant groups might be responsible for a significant share of violence but for only a tiny share of per capita consumption. Another possibility might be that the methods used in these studies were not strong enough to uncover real changes in consumption (i.e., type II error).
Since harm indicators decreased when the shops in Sweden closed on Saturdays in 1981, one would perhaps expect that the same indicators would increase when the shops were reopened in 2000. However, many other things changed in the intervening years, and one cannot assume a priori that the effect of changes in opening hours is independent of context. For instance, the number of licensed restaurants, pubs, bars, etc., increased substantially during this period, as did illegal trade in alcoholic beverages (Kuhlhorn et al., 1999). It is consequently necessary to evaluate the effects of the present reform in some detail.
Method
The Parliamentary bill on Saturday opening stated that before any permanent change was implemented a trial would be run in part of the country and the outcome evaluated after 1 year. The present authors were commissioned to design and perform the evaluation, which was expected to comprise both sales of alcoholic beverages and indicators of harmful effects of alcohol consumption.
To optimize the likelihood of uncovering effects, a design with experimental and control regions was chosen. The research design and the selection of experimental and control areas were dictated mainly by the following considerations:
* Since possible intervention effects may be contingent on factors such as urbanization and geographical location, the experimental areas should include a range of structural characteristics.
* To minimize random fluctuations in harm indicators, the experimental regions would have to be fairly large. In small regions the absolute number of incidents would be small and random fluctuations consequently large.
* Regarding the estimation of effects on sales, an obvious methodological problem is that of trade leakage; that is, that people living outside experimental areas might travel to an experimental area on Saturdays to purchase alcohol. Therefore, ...
Blood, urine and other body fluids are analyzed to detect and quantify any alcohol or other volatile substances present. Interpretative evidence is given pertaining to blood alcohol concentrations and the operation of breath-testing equipment. Liquor, mash and illicit spirits are analyzed.
Services provided by the Alcohol Analysis Section of a forensic science laboratory include :
scientific support to the breath and blood alcohol testing programs of Police agencies;
training police officers as Breathalyzer Technicians and assisting in the training of police officers as operators and calibrators of approved screening devices;
analyzing body fluids, mainly blood samples, for alcohol and other volatile substances;
giving expert testimony to the courts on the pharmacology of alcohol and on the theory and mode of operation of breath testing instruments.
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