Voas Robert B, Romano Eduardo, Kelley-Baker Tara, Tippetts A Scott
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 11710 Beltsville Drive, Suite 125, Calverton, Maryland 20705-3102, USA.
J Stud Alcohol. 2006 Sep;67(5):746-53. doi: 10.15288/jsa.2006.67.746.
On weekend evenings, thousands of youths (ages 20 and younger) and young adults (ages 21-25) residing in communities along the U.S. border cross into Mexico to patronize all-night bars where the drinking age is 18, rather than 21, and where the price of alcohol is considerably less than in the United States. On January 1, 1999, Juárez, Mexico, implemented a 2 AM (instead of 5 AM) bar-closing policy. The number of crossers and their blood alcohol concentration levels on return were reduced in the year following this policy change. The present study's objective was to determine the long-term (7-year) effect of the earlier-closing bar policy on cross-border drinking in Mexico.
Analyzed data (1998 to August 2005) were from quarterly breath-test surveys at the El Paso (Texas)/Juárez (Mexico) border, bar observations in Juárez, and trauma data in El Paso.
Bar surveys in Juárez show that the 2 AM closing policy, initiated 7 years ago, continues to be enforced, as has the reduction (89%) in youthful crossers returning after 3 AM. The number of underage youths returning earlier in the evening (before 3 AM), however, unchanged for 2 years after the policy change, has doubled recently.
The early closing of bars in Juárez has a continuing positive impact on the reduction of the number of those returning after 3 AM. Although initially there appeared to be no displacement of the late returnees into the early hours (before 3 AM), the number of bar visitors crossing and returning earlier has been steadily increasing. Suggestions for reducing cross-border heavy episodic drinking are described.
在周末晚上，成千上万居住在美国边境沿线社区的年轻人（20岁及以下）和青年成年人（21 - 25岁）会穿越到墨西哥，光顾通宵营业的酒吧，那里的饮酒年龄限制是18岁而非21岁，而且酒精价格比美国低得多。1999年1月1日，墨西哥华雷斯实施了凌晨2点（而非凌晨5点）的酒吧关门政策。在这一政策改变后的一年里，过境者数量及其返程时的血液酒精浓度水平都有所降低。本研究的目的是确定酒吧提前关门政策对墨西哥跨境饮酒的长期（7年）影响。
分析的数据（1998年至2005年8月）来自得克萨斯州埃尔帕索/墨西哥华雷斯边境的季度呼气测试调查、华雷斯的酒吧观察以及埃尔帕索的创伤数据。
华雷斯的酒吧调查显示，7年前开始实施的凌晨2点关门政策仍在执行，凌晨3点后返回的年轻过境者数量减少了89%。然而，政策改变后有两年时间，晚上较早时候（凌晨3点前）返回的未成年青年数量没有变化，最近却增加了一倍。
华雷斯酒吧提前关门对减少凌晨3点后返回的人数持续产生积极影响。尽管最初似乎没有出现晚归者转移到凌晨3点前较早时段的情况，但跨境并较早返回的酒吧访客数量一直在稳步增加。文中还描述了减少跨境大量饮酒的建议。
