Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 S. Second St. Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA,
J Community Health. 2014 Apr;39(2):339-48. doi: 10.1007/s10900-013-9767-9.
Alcohol sales to intoxicated patrons are illegal and may lead to public health issues such as traffic crashes and violence. Over the past several decades, considerable effort has been made to reduce alcohol sales to underage persons but less attention has been given to the issue of sales to obviously intoxicated patrons. Studies have found a high likelihood of sales to obviously intoxicated patrons (i.e., overservice), but little is known about efforts by enforcement agencies to reduce these sales. We conducted a survey of statewide alcohol enforcement agencies and local law enforcement agencies across the US to assess their strategies for enforcing laws prohibiting alcohol sales to intoxicated patrons at licensed alcohol establishments. We randomly sampled 1,631 local agencies (1,082 participated), and surveyed all 49 statewide agencies that conduct alcohol enforcement. Sales to obviously intoxicated patrons were reported to be somewhat or very common in their jurisdiction by 55 % of local agencies and 90 % of state agencies. Twenty percent of local and 60 % of state agencies reported conducting enforcement efforts to reduce sales to obviously intoxicated patrons in the past year. Among these agencies, fewer than half used specific enforcement strategies on at least a monthly basis to prevent overservice of alcohol. Among local agencies, enforcement efforts were more common among agencies that had a full-time officer specifically assigned to carry out alcohol enforcement efforts. Enforcement of laws prohibiting alcohol sales to obviously intoxicated patrons is an underutilized strategy to reduce alcohol-related problems, especially among local law enforcement agencies.
向醉酒顾客出售酒精是违法的，可能会导致交通事故和暴力等公共卫生问题。在过去的几十年中，已经做出了相当大的努力来减少向未成年人出售酒精，但对向明显醉酒顾客出售酒精的问题关注较少。研究发现，向明显醉酒顾客（即过度服务）出售酒精的可能性很高，但执法机构为减少这些销售所做的努力却知之甚少。我们对美国全州范围内的酒精执法机构和地方执法机构进行了调查，以评估他们在执行禁止在持牌酒精场所向醉酒顾客出售酒精的法律方面的策略。我们随机抽取了 1631 个地方机构（1082 个参与），并调查了所有 49 个进行酒精执法的全州机构。55%的地方机构和 90%的州机构报告称，在其管辖范围内，向明显醉酒顾客出售酒精的情况有些或非常普遍。20%的地方机构和 60%的州机构报告称，在过去一年中，他们采取了执法行动来减少向明显醉酒顾客出售酒精的情况。在这些机构中，不到一半的机构每月至少使用特定的执法策略来防止过度供应酒精。在地方机构中，执法力度更大的机构通常会有一名全职官员专门负责执行酒精执法工作。禁止向明显醉酒顾客出售酒精的法律执行是减少与酒精相关问题的一种未充分利用的策略，尤其是在地方执法机构中。
