Human Services News

From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News:

A researcher encourages the use of environmental stategies to reduce underage drinking.

When considering how to prevent use of the No. 1 drug of choice for youth - alcohol - people usually think of awareness programs that tell teens and their parents why underage drinking is bad.

Such individual behavioral approaches may be common, but the newest, most promising means is changing the overall environment where problems take root, thereby protecting whole populations.

Some of the tactics discussed at the conference may seem fairly routine, such as cracking down on liquor stores that sell to minors and breaking up underage drinking parties.

But the strategies behind these tactics are aimed at changing the widespread cultural acceptance of underage drinking by targeting the culture - or the environment - itself.

My work involves mapping strategies within communities to pinpoint the physical relationship among alcohol sales outlets, alcohol-related crimes and arrests, schools and parks, and other places where young people congregate.

Still other work involves how to prevent alcohol retailers, wholesalers and producers from selling and marketing alcohol to teens.

Various segments of the alcohol industry would prefer that the prevention of alcohol problems focus on individual behaviors, not on the environment where production, sales, marketing and large-scale consumption take place.

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