U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Excessive Alcohol Consumption: Privatization of Retail Alcohol Sales

About this resource:

Systematic Review

Source: The Guide to Community Preventive Services

Last Reviewed: April 2011

Workgroups: Substance Use Workgroup

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends against the further privatization of alcohol sales in settings with current government control of retail sales. Privatizing alcohol sales means that the government allows alcoholic beverages to be sold in retail stores (instead of only in designated locations like bars and restaurants, where alcohol is consumed on-site). In this systematic review, the CPSTF found that privatizing alcohol sales leads to an increase in overall alcohol consumption, which is a well-established proxy measure for excessive alcohol consumption. 

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Objectives related to this resource (3)

Reduce the proportion of people aged 21 years and over who engaged in binge drinking in the past month — SU‑10
LHI label
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of people who had alcohol use disorder in the past year — SU‑13
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of adolescents who drank alcohol in the past month — SU‑04
Little or no detectable change

Suggested Citation

1.

Guide to Community Preventive Services. (2011). Alcohol Excessive Consumption: Privatization of Retail Alcohol Sales. Retrieved from https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/alcohol-excessive-consumption-privatization-retail-alcohol-sales.html.