Context-Potentially effective environmental strategies have been recommended to reduce heavy alcohol use among college students. However, studies to date on environmental prevention strategies are few in number and have been limited by their non-experimental designs, inadequate sample sizes, and lack of attention to settings where the majority of heavy drinking events occur.Purpose-To determine whether environmental prevention strategies targeting off-campus settings would reduce the likelihood and incidence of student intoxication at those settings. Setting/participants-Campuses and communities surrounding 8 campuses of the University of California and 6 in the California State University system were utilized. The study used random samples of undergraduates (~500-1,000 per campus per year) attending the 14 public California universities. Design-TheIntervention-Safer environmental interventions included nuisance party enforcement operations, minor decoy operations, DUI checkpoints, social host ordinances, and use of campus and local media to increase the visibility of environmental strategies.Main outcome measures-Proportion of drinking occasions in which students drank to intoxication at six different settings during the fall semester (residence hall party, campus event, fraternity or sorority party, party at off-campus apartment or house, bar/restaurant, outdoor setting), any intoxication at each setting during the semester, and whether students drank to intoxication the last time they went to each setting.Results-Significant reductions in the incidence and likelihood of intoxication at off-campus parties and bars/restaurants were observed for Safer intervention universities compared to controls. A lower likelihood of intoxication was also observed for Safer intervention universities the last time students drank at an off-campus party (OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.68, 0.97), a bar or restaurant Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this paper. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAm J Prev Med. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 December 1. OR=0.76, 95% CI=0.62, 0.94), or any setting (OR=0.80, 95% CI=0.65, 0.97). No increase in intoxication (e.g., displacement) appeared in other settings. Furthermore, stronger intervention effects were achieved at Safer universities with the highest level of implementation.Conclusions-Environmental prevention strategies targeting settings where the majority of heavy drinking events occur appear to be effective in reducing the incidence and likelihood of intoxication am...

Background Underage drinking is associated with a number of social and public health consequences. Preventing access to alcohol is one approach to reducing underage drinking. Objectives This study assesses the efficacy of a culturally tailored “reward and reminder” program aimed at reducing convenience store alcohol sales to youth living on or near nine American Indian reservations. Methods First, tribal council proclamations were sought to support underage drinking prevention, including reward and reminder efforts. Then, decoys (volunteers over 21 years of age but judged to look younger) attempted to purchase alcohol without identification. Clerks who asked for identification were given “rewards” (gift cards and congratulatory letters), whereas clerks who did not were given “reminders” of the law regarding sales to minors. Following an initial baseline of 12 purchase attempts, three repeated reward and reminder visits were made to 13 convenience stores selling alcohol within ten miles of the reservations (n=51 total attempts). Results Five of nine tribal councils passed resolutions in support of the program. The baseline sales rate without requesting ID was 33%. Similarly, 38% of stores in the first reward and reminder visit round failed to request identification. However, in the following two reward and reminder rounds, 0% of the stores failed to request identification. Conclusions These results indicate that environmental community-level underage drinking prevention strategies to reduce alcohol sales near rural reservations are feasible and can be effective. Scientific Significance Environmental prevention strategies within reservation communities support integrated supply and demand reduction models for reducing underage drinking.

Using secondary analysis, this study compared the characteristics of 1,763 parolees with substance abuse problems who successfully completed a post incarceration drug treatment program with those who did not. Those who completed the program were more likely to be women who had not used drugs 30 days before program admission, had fewer prior treatment experiences, remained in the program longer, and had secured employment and stable living arrangements by the time of discharge. Implications for treatment and program development are discussed.

Archival data are considered useful for identifying problem areas, assessing levels of problems, and evaluation of interventions. However, few publications describe the process of collecting them and related potential obstacles. For the Safer California Universities study, archival data is expected to play a major role in identifying problem settings and the extent of alcohol use-related problems on the campuses. The project has experienced a number of obstacles in collecting these data. This article discusses strategies for collecting data, obstacles related to collecting them, solutions to these obstacles, and communication with partners on the campuses. The study's limitations are noted.