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CHAPTER 5 Effects of Off-Licences on the Community
Off-sales are a predominant source of supply for underage drinking ( CAHRU, 2003) and evidence indicates that promotions such as volume discounts contribute to binge drinking (Kuo et al, 2003). There is a growing body of evidence within the US linking the number or density of all alcohol outlets (sometimes specifically off-licences) and/ or alcohol consumption in a community with various negative alcohol related consequences. This does suggest that controls on and regulation of alcohol sales should be uniformly applied across all sources of alcohol.
5.1 Crime
5.1.1 Assault
Work carried out by Stevenson et al (1999a) examined the relationship between alcohol sales and assault in New South Wales ( NSW), Australia, and how outlet numbers, outlet types and alcohol types contributed to this relationship. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant relationship between overall alcohol sales in an area and its incidence of assault for both Sydney and country NSW. There were few effects of outlet or alcohol type for Sydney, but the effect of alcohol sales from hotels and off-licences accounted for most of the alcohol - assault relationship for country NSW. Notably however, alcohol outlet density per se was not significantly related to the incidence of assault.
Studies carried out by Gorman et al (2001), Speer (1998), and Scribner et al (1995) all examined the extent to which alcohol outlets in a community influence assaultive violence/ violent crime. In all cases, outlet density significantly accounted for higher rates of violence once other (socio-demographic) factors were controlled for, although it is unclear whether or not off-sales were included in their analyses.
A study by Matthews (2006) looking at violence-related injuries and the price of beer in England and Wales used data collected from 58 NHS Emergency Departments between 1995-2000 to develop an economic model of the determination of violence-related injuries. The findings showed that a 1% rise in the real price of alcohol would equate to an economy wide reduction in Emergency Department assault cases of 5000 per year. It was also shown that there was a clear seasonal pattern to the data, in that violence related injuries were highest in summer. Major sporting events, which engage the national population also produce a significant increase in assault related violence (note it is unclear what the effects of 'sporting' promotions are). Whilst it is unclear what element of the model relates the cost of off-sales, the authors indicate the real price of beer within the model acts as a proxy for alcohol prices. It would be necessary to explore the model further before implications for off-sales can be drawn.
5.1.2 Homicide
Scribner et al (1999) looked at homicides occurring during 1994 and 1995, and active on- and off- sale licence premises in New Orleans, in order to determine any geographic relation between homicide rate and two measures of exposure to alcohol outlets: alcohol outlets per square mile and alcohol outlets per person. Once socio-demographic confounders were accounted for, adding off-sale alcohol outlet density using both of the above measures yielded a strong geographic relationship with homicide and increased the amount of variance explained. A 10% higher off-sale outlet density accounted for a 2.4% higher homicide rate.
Taking a slightly different angle, Norström looked at the relationship between private alcohol consumption (gauged as retail sales of beer, wine and spirits) and the number of homicides per 100 000 inhabitants in Sweden between 1956 and 1994. According to the author's findings the homicide rate was significantly associated with retail sales of spirits (Norström, 1998).
5.1.3 Drinking and driving/ alcohol related crashes
The research regarding off-sales density and the effect on drunk driving is less clear. Overall, Gruenewald (1996) asserts that '… alcohol availability, measured in terms of geographic density of alcohol-sales outlets, is linked to specific patterns of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in communities…' (p. 244). However, McCarthy (2003) analysed data from 111 small cities in California from January 1981 to December 1989 in order to ascertain any effect of alcohol availability on highway safety, using the measure of alcohol licences per square mile and alcohol related crashes. Although it was found that the number of licences per square mile was a significant determinant of alcohol- related crashes, the direction of this effect was dependent on the type of licence. In fact, increases in the density of general alcohol licences for off- sales were actually beneficial to highway safety, and it was general on-sales licences which had a detrimental effect.
Lapham et al (2004) attempted to assess what effect New Mexico's 1998 drive-up liquor window closure had on alcohol related crashes. Analysis of the data yielded no significant difference, although the rate of alcohol related crashes did decline following the drive-up window closure. However, Lapham et al (2004) found, as with McCarthy (2003), indications that a greater percentage of crashes occur where there are fewer off-premise outlets.
Scribner et al (1994) used 1990 data from 72 cities within Los Angeles County to examine the relationship between densities of four types of alcohol outlets (restaurants, bars, liquor stores and mini-markets) and alcohol related crashes. Overall the findings of this study demonstrated that increased alcohol availability is geographically associated with increased alcohol-related crashes. In contrast with the above findings, there was some indication that this was significant for the off-sales premises studied (Scribner et al, 1994).
5.2 Disorder
5.2.1 Young people
In general there is substantial evidence showing a link between alcohol use and offending especially with young people. A recent report utilising data from the Youth Lifestyles Survey explored these links. Overall it was clear that the frequency of drunkenness was more strongly associated with general offending than frequency of drinking - this was particularly so for violent crime (Richardson and Budd 2003).
A more recent Home Office document (Matthews et al, 2006) has explored this link to a greater extent. The results of the study specifically focused on results for those aged 10-17 years and found that:
- Those who drank alcohol once a week or more committed a disproportionate volume of crime, accounting for 37% of all offences reported by 10-17 year olds, but only 14% of respondents.
- Those who had never drunk alcohol or had not drunk alcohol in the past year committed 16% of all offences but comprised 45% of respondents
- A higher proportion of those who drank alcohol once a week or more reported committing criminal damage (12%) and theft (4%) offences during or after drinking than those who drank less frequently.
Whilst there is little evidence that off-licence density contributes to the levels of general disorder, it is clear that there is a relationship between overall alcohol sales and disorder related offending. Stevenson et al (1999b) explored the relationship between alcohol sales and malicious damage to property and offensive behaviour in both Sydney and country NSW. After controlling for socio-demographic variables it was found that both offence types occurred more frequently in areas with greater sales of alcohol in both locations studied, although the effect was stronger in Sydney itself.
As noted in a study by Bradshaw (2003) who found that 49% of young people had purchased alcohol illegally during the year that the study took place, with a vast majority of these purchases coming from off-sales premises. It also found that purchasing alcohol was strongly related to involvement in delinquent behaviour (e.g. damage to property, public disorder, and graffiti) and was actually a better predictor of delinquent behaviour than frequency of drinking. Similarly, young people aged 18-24, in focus groups carried out by Engineer et al (2003), all acknowledged the relationship between excessive drinking and disorder which included fighting and drunken pranks, and many of those interviewed had been involved in both.
Antisocial behaviour in the vicinity of off-sales premises remains anecdotal (e.g. Scottish Executive, 2004); with few peer reviewed studies being carried out on this topic. A guidance document for the off trade does acknowledge that:
"The problem of youths congregating outside stores, especially in the evening, is familiar to retailers. Such meeting points are often considered to be a flash point for antisocial behaviour. It is also clear that retailers suffer from this problem, with young people causing litter, deterring customers and possibly intimidating staff "( ACS/ BRC/ WSA, 2004, p.7).
5.3 Injury
When analysing the relationship between alcohol availability and general injuries, Treno et al (2001) found that self reported injury is related to the density of both on- and off-sale premises independent of other predictors (e.g. gender, age, ethnicity, community, etc). It is acknowledged that although the reasons behind this relationship are unclear, there is a distinct possibility that: a) greater outlet density could mean more drinking and therefore more injury (Gruenewald et al 1995); or b) specific outlets could influence neighbourhood characteristics such that individuals are at more risk of injury independent of their drinking; or c) alcohol outlets may simply be a surrogate measure for broader community conditions (Treno et al, 2001). Liquor licensing and public disorder research (Reid- Howie Associates, 2003) also found evidence pertaining to different types of outlet experiencing different levels and types of alcohol- related crime/ disorder. As such, the type of outlet may have different societal and cultural effects - particularly in relation to alcohol- related problems.
5.4 Off-sales density and availability
A recent study published by the Scottish Executive notes that there is some evidence to suggest that there is an association between the number of alcohol outlets and levels of alcohol related problems; and as such restricting the number of such outlets may have a positive effect in alleviating these issues (Reid- Howie Associates, 2003).
Increased density of bars, restaurants and off-sales establishments in a particular location has often been highlighted in the literature as a potential problem. There are more instances of drunk driving (Jewell and Brown, 1995), pedestrian injury collisions (LaSacala et al, 2005) and violent assaults (Stevenson et al, 1999a) in areas highly populated with on and off-licences. However, while these studies indicate that there may be a relationship between density of premises and alcohol related problems, these have not been clearly demonstrated over time (Gorman et al, 2001).
Gruenewald et al (1993) found by using a time series design looking at information from 24-38 American States that variations in numbers of outlets significantly predicted alcohol sales. Thus, a change in the number of outlets in a particular area can have a substantive effect on consumption and alcohol related problems. Similar findings were shown with Nielson et al (2003) who showed that alcohol availability has strong positive effects on rates of non-lethal violence and the percentage of recent immigrants is also a positive predictor. These findings however, must be judged with caution as most studies have failed to differentiate the difference between density of on- and off- sales, rather they have been considered together.
Subsequently, an American study used longitudinal data to identify the relationship between alcohol outlets and violence/ antisocial behaviour. The overall results showed that changes in the numbers of alcohol outlets over time were directly related to changes in violence rates across 581 index locations. Contributing to these findings was that local characteristics also influenced the rates of violence - the most salient of these being median household income and percent African American populations. These findings were independent of coexisting changes in other population and place characteristics, were consistently found over time and were independent of effects related to other alcohol outlets (Gruenewald and Remer, 2006).
Raistrick et al (1999) suggests that the association between number of outlets and alcohol consumption may depend on the type of outlet, as in UK studies, overall effects tend to vary with type of alcohol product.
5.5 Potential solutions
5.5.1 Drinking and driving/ alcohol- related crashes
Holder et al (2000) studied the effect increased local enforcement on drinking and driving laws on self reported driving after drinking, and rates of alcohol- related crashes. The interventions were part of a 5 year community alcohol trauma prevention trial. Actions included police being equipped, trained for, and then carrying out special DUI (driving under the influence) patrols, and carrying out random roadside checks. The authors found that self reported driving whilst over the legal limit was 51% lower per 6 month period in the intervention communities in compared to comparison communities. In addition, night time crashes declined by 10% and crashes in which the driver had been drinking declined by 6% (Holder et al, 2000).
Wechsler et al (2003) used a national ( US) sample of full time college students in order to examine policy factors associated with alcohol-involved driving. He found that the rates of drinking driving were significantly lower among students who attended colleges in states with: more comprehensive laws on underage drinking; restriction of high volume sales; and a strong rate of drinking and driving enforcement.
5.5.2 Assault
The Holder et al (2000) study also measured the effect of the community interventions on the rates of assault in the intervention communities vs. comparison communities. The interventions were increased DUI monitoring (see 5.5.1) community mobilisation (e.g. taskforce formation and media mobilisation), reducing access to alcohol (e.g. restriction on availability at special events, implementation of new distance regulations between outlets and public places) and responsible beverage service. The study found that assault injuries observed in emergency departments declined by 43% in the intervention communities versus the comparison communities, and all hospitalised assault injuries declined by 2% (Holder et al, 2000).
5.5.3 Antisocial behaviour around off-licence premises
Whilst there is little in the way of formal studies on this topic, anecdotal evidence for this problem is strong, and a number of potential solutions have been suggested. A guidance document for the off trade suggests making the outside of the store less attractive as a place to congregate by, for example, removing any low level walls from outside the premises, removing any directly adjoining canopies that provide shelter from inclement weather and ensuring that the area outside the store is such that it may deter youths from congregating. In addition the document suggests becoming involved in community crime reduction initiatives ( ACS/ BRC/ WSA, 2004).
A motion to the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference 2004 called for a new offence of loitering outside licensed premises, which was prompted by concerns about gangs congregating outside off-licences and intimidating members of the public (Swanson, 2004). According to Swanson (2004) crackdowns have also been announced on off-licences which become a magnet for antisocial behaviour. In addition, proposals have been announced to give local residents a bigger say in the granting of off-sales licences and allow licensing boards to block applications in areas hit by antisocial behaviour.
An unusual solution, preventing groups of youths congregating where they are unwanted, is using piped classical music. According to Jackson (2005) some Co-op stores are trying this out outside some of its shops. The Tyne and Wear metro was one of the first to use this solution, having heard of the success of some schemes in Canada, and it plays classical music at some of its outlying stations. According to a spokesman this has virtually eliminated the problem of young people hanging around, getting involved in low level antisocial behaviour such as swearing and harassing passengers. Pilot projects have also begun at London Underground stations and a bus station in East Yorkshire (Jackson, 2005).
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