Excessive alcohol use, including binge and underage drinking, is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. This dangerous behavior is responsible for more than 79,000 deaths annually and a wide range of health and social problems. Recently, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Guide to Community Preventive Services explained that regulating the availability of alcohol, including maintaining limits on the number of days and hours when alcohol can be sold, will help people drink less and prevent the dangers that arise from drinking too much. 

When states or communities increase the availability of alcohol in bars, restaurants, and liquor stores, the result is more harms from drinking, especially motor-vehicle crashes. The Community Guide studies found that people are more likely to experience harms from drinking too much when national, state, and local policies remove previously banned alcohol sales on weekend days or when communities increase the hours that alcohol can be sold by 2 or more hours. In return, when governments create new limits on the days of alcohol sale, this helps to protect community residents, even non-drinkers, from experiencing the many harms of excessive drinking.

The Community Guide studies, which were posted online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, considered all of the scientific evidence on what happens when changing the days or hours when alcohol can be sold. Fourteen studies of the effects of changes in the days of sale and ten studies of the effects of changing the hours of sale were analyzed using a state-of-the-art systematic review process. After reviewing all of the best available scientific evidence, the U.S. Task Force on Community Preventive Services, an independent, nonfederal body of public health experts, recommended maintaining limits on the days or hours during which alcohol can legally be sold to protect the public’s health.

The Community Guide is an essential resource for people who want to know what works in public health. It provides evidence-based recommendations and findings about public health interventions and policies to improve health and promote safety. The Public Health Foundation is partnering with the CDC to promote the Community Guide. Click here to find out more information about our efforts or visit www.thecommunityguide.org for more information on strategies to prevent excessive alcohol use and related harms.

To read the entire article from the CDC, click here.