Enact responsible beverage service training laws
Responsible beverage service training laws, enacted at the local or state level, mandate that all or some servers, managers, and/or license holders at alcohol establishments receive formal training on how to responsibly serve alcohol. Training includes ways to recognize signs of intoxication, methods for checking age identification, and intervention techniques. Note: Rating based on research on the effect of a statewide law.
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Effectiveness: = Moderate effectiveness
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Cost: $$$ = Higher
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Research Amount: *** = 5 or more cross-sectional studies or 1 to 4 longitudinal studies
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Public Health Reach: Broad
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Staffing Expertise Needed: Policy advocate
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Target Population: All students
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Research Population: General
Effectiveness ratings are based on estimated success in achieving targeted outcomes. Cost ratings are based on a consensus among research team members of the relative program and staff costs for adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a strategy. Actual costs will vary by institution, depending on size, existing programs, and other campus and community factors. Barriers to implementing a strategy include cost and opposition, among other factors. Public health reach refers to the number of students that a strategy affects. Strategies with a broad reach affect all students or a large group of students (e.g., all underage students); strategies with a focused reach affect individuals or small groups of students (e.g., sanctioned students). Research amount/quality refers to the number and design of studies.
- Review:
Bolier L, Voorham L, Monshouwer K, Hasselt Nv, & Bellis M. Alcohol and drug prevention in nightlife settings: A review of experimental studies. Substance Use and Misuse;46(13):1569–91, 2011.
References from 2019 update:
- Fell, J.C.; Scherer, M.; Thomas, S.; and Voas, R.B. Assessing the impact of twenty underage drinking laws. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 77(2):249–260, 2016.
- Holder, H.D.; and Wagenaar, A.C. Mandated server training and reduced alcohol-involved traffic crashes: A time series analysis of the Oregon experience. Accident Analysis and Prevention 26(1):89–97, 1994.
- Linde, A.C.; Toomey, T.L.; Wolfson, J.; et al. Associations between responsible beverage service laws and binge drinking and alcohol-impaired driving. Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education 60(2):35–54, 2016.
- Scherer, M.; Fell, J.C.; Thomas, S.; and Voas, R.B. Effects of dram shop, responsible beverage service training, and state alcohol control laws on underage drinking driver fatal crash ratios. Traffic Injury Prevention 16:S59–S65, 2016.
- Scherer, M.; Romano, E.; Caldwell, S.; and Taylor, E. The impact of retail beverage service training and social host laws on adolescents' DUI rates in San Diego County, California. Traffic Injury Prevention 19(2):111–117, 2018.
For more information about intervention designs and implementation, check the articles in the References tab.
