[Winona] Alcohol Use

[Kathy Seifert]

The University of Wisconsin--Madison (my alma mater) and the Madison community have been working together through a grant funded program to reduce high-risk drinking and all the negatives associated with this issue--especially around the campus/downtown area.  The PACE coalition targets major policy issues aimed at changing the environment and culture around campus alcohol.  Find out more at: http://www.uhs.wisc.edu/rwj/index.html University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor Wiley is leading the effort to bring changes in attitude and policy that will help curb binge drinking among university students: "Recent surveys of the drinking patterns of college students only reinforces the importance of changing the community norms that foster a culture of high-risk drinking on our campuses......we are focusing primarily on changing the environment, not individuals, as a way of reducing this problem...... We have forged new collaborations between the campus and the community to identify common issues and discuss roles in changing the culture that supports high-risk drinking........To this end, the university has taken an active role in city government deliberations over alcohol licenses, including renewals, for the campus area. In addition, the university has had some success in negotiating directly with tavern owners to encourage more responsible alcohol consumption." I don't know if President Kruger is a subscriber, but he certainly has been a force at WSU to implement policy on campus to affect a cultural change in this area.  I wonder about our community partnerships in Winona and how our current policies and practices compare with some of these initiatives that have been studied extensively producing data which supports the efficacy of the intervention strategies? One thing I found interesting was that they clearly didn't take an approach that defined alcohol or drinking as any sort of evil. They agreed that it was in both in business-owners' and residents' interests to curb the high-risk behaviors.  The studies looked at things like emergency room admissions for assault, self-reports of drinking behavior, alcohol-related traffic accidents (crashes), and minor consumption offenses as measures of effectiveness.  Interventions included media awareness, training of tavern and alcohol retailers, sobriety checkpoints, zoning changes, and law enforcement stings (I know we are very successful in this area--hats off to our police dept!)  BTW the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds the PACE project, too.  It was the funder of the project to which Craig referred us. I, too, thought the idea of and ordinance against indoor furniture and pop machines on porches was a good and creative way to impact the "party house" culture. What do city council members think? Kathy Seifert The following is a summary of some research on the Effect of Community-Based Interventions on High-Risk Drinking and Alcohol-Related Injuries.  The full text may be found at: http://www.uhs.wisc.edu/rwj/research2.htm This large prevention trial shows that communities need not remain passive recipients of trauma caused by heavy drinking. Whereas education and public awareness campaigns alone are unlikely to reduce alcohol-related injury and death in communities, when they are combined with the environmental strategies tested in this trial, mutually reinforcing preventive interventions can succeed. We believe the key is to use several mutually reinforcing strategies: media attention to alcohol problems, changes in alcohol serving practices in local bars and restaurants, reductions in retail sale of alcohol to young people, increased enforcement of drinking and driving laws, and reductions in the concentration of alcohol retail outlets. This trial was a multilevel approach in which special attention was given to the mutual reinforcement of these linked components.