Ohio College Initiative to Reduce High Risk Drinking:

Environmental Strategies

• Environmental Strategies Intro
• Offering alcohol-free social, extracurricular, and public service options
• Creating a health-promoting normative environment
• Restricting the marketing and promotion of alcoholic beverages both on and off campus
• Limiting alcohol availability
• Increasing enforcement of laws and policies

Strategy #4 - Limiting alcohol availability

Though many college students are under the legal drinking age, access to alcohol has traditionally not been a problem in many campus communities. Establishments selling and/or serving alcohol are often prevalent, and establishment owners and employees can be intentionally or unintentionally complicit in underage sales and other high risk consumption.

Research - and common sense - demonstrates that the less alcohol available to a consumer, the less likely high risk drinking will take place.

Coalitions in many non-campus communities have embraced limiting alcohol availability as a strategy to reduce high risk drinking and its consequences in their neighborhoods. Campus community coalitions are increasingly utilizing this strategy, and, similar to the strategy on restricting advertising and promotion, sometimes in concert with establishment owners.

Examples of this strategy include:

Server training:
Encouraging or requiring training programs for those who serve alcohol, both in official campus environments - including concerts, athletic activities and other events - as well as in off-campus establishments.

Container size:
Limiting the amount of alcohol that can be purchased through keg registration, keg purchase limitations, even providing smaller plastic cups for campus functions where alcohol is served.

Zoning:
Reducing or limiting the number of alcohol outlets with the campus community area.

Identification:
Implementing stronger identification requirements for purchase and/or consumption of alcohol at campus events and in off-campus establishments.

Proceed to Strategy #5 >>