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WHO position as outlined in the strategy
This target area includes policy options and interventions that focus directly on reducing the harm from alcohol intoxication and drinking without necessarily affecting underlying alcohol consumption. Current evidence and good practices favor the complementary use of interventions within a broader strategy that prevents or reduces the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol intoxication. In implementing these approaches to managing the drinking environment or informing consumers, the perception of endorsing or promoting drinking should be avoided.
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Policy options outlined in the strategy
(a) Regulating the drinking context to minimize violence and disruptive behavior, including serving alcohol in plastic containers or shatter-proof glass and managing alcohol-related issues at large-scale public events
(b) Enforcing laws against serving to intoxicated persons and legal liability for harmful consequences of harm resulting from intoxication caused by the serving of alcohol
(c) Enacting management policies relating to responsible serving of beverages on-premise and training staff in relevant sectors in how better to prevent, identify, and manage intoxicated and aggressive drinkers
(d) Reducing the alcoholic strength within different beverage categories
(e) Providing necessary care or shelter for severely intoxicated people
(f) Providing consumer information about and labeling alcoholic beverages to indicate the harm related to alcohol
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Brief comments from an industry perspective
Industry members support targeted interventions that focus directly on reducing harm related to alcohol intoxication. Effective management of the drinking environment is key to this, as is server training. There are many examples of industry initiatives that aim to train retail staff in how to identify and manage intoxicated and aggressive drinkers. Many beverage alcohol producers—across the beer, wine, and spirits sectors—produce beverages with a range of different alcoholic strengths, enabling consumer choice. There are many ways of providing consumer information about the nature and effects of beverage alcohol. Labels are one of these options, but there are many opportunities for industry members to provide information via consumer care lines or websites. Industry members agree that laws against serving to intoxicated persons should be enforced.
How can industry members support the above policy options?
- Supporting responsibility campaigns linked to major sporting events or music festivals
- Supporting server training initiatives
- Providing information on beverage strength and health outcomes
- Supporting brief interventions
What ICAP tools are available to support this work?
- ICAP Blue Book, Module 7: Drinking and Violence
- ICAP Blue Book, Module 14: Public Order and Drinking Environments
- ICAP Blue Book, Module 5: Drunkenness
- ICAP website Policy Issues area on violence: http://www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/Violence/
- ICAP Issues Briefing, Physical Availability of Beverage Alcohol: Monopolies, Licensing, and Outlet Density
- ICAP Report 12, Violence and Licensed Premises
- ICAP Report 19, Lower Alcohol Beverages
- ICAP Report 20, Informing Consumers about Beverage Alcohol
- ICAP Book, Drinking in Context: Patterns, Interventions, and Partnerships, Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 on targeted interventions
- ICAP Book, Working Together to Reduce Harmful Drinking, Chapter 6 on selling and serving beverage alcohol
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What other tools are available?
The tools listed under AREAS 3, 5, and 7 earlier in the toolkit are also relevant for this AREA.
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