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Substantial attention has been directed toward concerns about alcohol-related public health problems – which include violence, binge drinking, automobile crashes, and unplanned or unwanted sexual encounters. Alcohol consumption has consequences for the health and well - being of those who drink and, by extension, the lives of those around them (US DHHS, 2000 xClose
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Journal: Alcohol Research & Health: Highlights From the Tenth Special Report to Congress, Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption (Volume 24, Number 1, 2000 ed.) Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.). Various environmental factors that influence alcohol use and misuse include the location, price, advertising, and ease of access of alcohol sold in commercial and government stores; alcohol taxes; and enforcement of laws related to minors’ access to alcohol from social and commercial sources. Issues related to promotion of alcohol sales to ethnic/racial minorities and college students have examined targeted advertisement and alcohol outlet density (Alaniz, 1998 xClose
Alaniz, M.L. (1998). Alcohol availability and targeted advertising in racial/ethnic minority communities. Alcohol Health & Research World, 22, 286-289.; Romley, Cohen, Ringel and Sturm, 2007 xClose
Romley, J.A., Cohen, D., Ringel, J., Sturm, R. (2007). Alcohol and environmental justice: The density of liquor stores and bars in urban neighborhoods in the United States. Journal of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs, 68, 48-55.; Weitzman et al., 2003 xClose
Weitzman, E.R., Folkman, A., Folkman, M.P., Wechsler, H. (2003). The relationship of alcohol outlet density to heavy and frequent drinking and drinking-related problems among college students at eight universities. Health Place, 9, 1-6.).
Many studies have focused on the specific environmental indicator of "outlet density," which is typically measured by objective means – using liquor license data combined with geospatial analysis (Weitzman et al., 2003 xClose
Weitzman, E.R., Folkman, A., Folkman, M.P., Wechsler, H. (2003). The relationship of alcohol outlet density to heavy and frequent drinking and drinking-related problems among college students at eight universities. Health Place, 9, 1-6.; Romley et al., 2007 xClose
Romley, J.A., Cohen, D., Ringel, J., Sturm, R. (2007). Alcohol and environmental justice: The density of liquor stores and bars in urban neighborhoods in the United States. Journal of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs, 68, 48-55.; Gruenewald et al., 2002 xClose
Gruenewald, P.J., Johnson, F.W., Treno, A.J. (2002). Outlets, drinking and driving: A multilevel analysis of availability. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 460-8.; Gorman et al., 2001 xClose
Gorman, D.M., Speer, P.W., Gruenewald, P.J., Labouvie, E.W. (2001). Spatial dynamics of alcohol availability, neighborhood structure, and violent crime. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 628-36.). Associations have been found between alcohol outlet density and violence (Gorman, Zhu & Horel, 2005 xClose
Gorman, D.M., Zhu, L., Horel, S. (2005). Drug‚ hot-spots’, alcohol availability and violence. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24, 507-13.; Cohen et al., 2006 xClose
Cohen, D.A., Ghosh-Dastidar, B., Scribner, R., et al. (2006). Alcohol outlets, gonorrhea, and the Los Angeles civil unrest: A longitudinal analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 12, 3062-71.); drinking and driving (Gruenewald et al., 2002 xClose
Gruenewald, P.J., Johnson, F.W., Treno, A.J. (2002). Outlets, drinking and driving: A multilevel analysis of availability. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 460-8.); and drinking-related problems of college students. In light of the cumulative body of evidence related to alcohol outlet density, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services has recommended "the use of regulatory authority (e.g., though regulatory and zoning requirements) to limit alcohol outlet density for the prevention of alcohol consumption and related harms" (Community Guide Task Force, 3/12/07 xClose
Community Preventive Services Task Force (Community Guide Task Force). (Approved 3/12/2007). Alcohol Outlet Density: Proposed Recommendation Statement.).
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