Alcohol Free Zone

Alcohol Free Zone

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An alcohol free zone, or dry zone, is a geographic area, location or establishment where the public consumption and sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited. Alcohol free zones have been established in some areas to address problems with drinking- and binge drinking-related crime, antisocial behavior, assaults and disorderly behavior.

The first alcohol free zone established in the United Kingdom was in Coventry, England. Boston, Lincolnshire established a street drinking ban in January 2015 to address concerns with the antisocial problems associated with public alcohol consumption. Under rules of the ban, those caught drinking in these areas can be fined £100 for a first offense. Additionally, those that are requested to stop drinking and continue to do so can receive a fine of up to £500. In January 2015 to commemorate the event, various town council members and city police attended an event where cans of beer were poured down a city street drain. In 2009, Knowsley, Merseyside established alcohol free zones in some of its parks to address problems with binge drinking-related crime and antisocial behavior. Drinking in licensed drinking establishments was not affected by the zones. Liverpool, England has some alcohol free zones in areas of the city.

Some parks and recreation areas in the United States are alcohol free zones, such as in Johnson County, Iowa, where alcohol consumption is allowed in some park and recreation areas but not others. The riverfront at Covington, Ohio was established as an alcohol free zone circa 1989 by Covington police.

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    What do we know? What don’t we know?

The CDC Community Guide summarizes the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on the effects of alcohol policies on health. There is little known on the impact of alcohol social districts by name. However, by breaking alcohol social districts down into components, some of them pertain to evidence in the Community Guide, the following are some potential areas for concern.

-        Increased alcohol outlets can negatively impact health. Alcohol social districts may promote new alcohol businesses. Regulating the number of businesses selling alcohol is an effective way to prevent excessive alcohol use.

-        Increased hours of sales can negatively impact health. This includes independent efforts to expand happy hours, and any impacts to promote alcohol sales by expanding hours in alcohol social districts.

-        If alcohol social districts encourage retailers to create promotions or offer discounts, these can negatively impact health. Promotions such as happy hours make it easier to purchase larger quantities of alcohol at the same time. NC currently does not allow happy hours and has certain limitations regarding promotions.

-        Youth are susceptible to alcohol advertising, normalizing, and exposure. Proximity of alcohol social districts to schools and teen social areas could increase their exposure to alcohol and normalize their views of alcohol consumption that could be associated with increases in youth drinking.

-        Increasing excessive alcohol consumption has a high societal cost. While proponents of alcohol social districts may state that the districts could increase local business or tax revenue, the economic cost of alcohol-related harms to local NC communities of nearly $10 billion each year could offset the potential new revenue.

-        People in recovery can be particularly sensitive to increased promotion and normalization of drinking. Research has found that individuals with alcohol dependence are more impacted by advertising.

-        Alcohol-related harms and policies often disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Off-premises outlets are often denser in BIPOC communities.

-        Commuting and Equity. Those who live nearby entertainment and tourist districts may sometimes experience the health consequences of alcohol outlets more than those who travel there to spend money.

What can locals do?

-        Locals can create their own local evaluation plans by tracking changes like hours of sale, price and promotion changes, youth exposure to advertising, actual business revenue, practical changes in business, and alcohol-impaired driving enforcement.

-        Local health departments may be able to assist in evaluation planning and execution. Local health departments may also be able to provide guidance for health promotion messaging within the district.

-        Locals and organizations can educate their city councils, county commissioners, and community members; provide public comments; write op-eds to local papers; or distribute press releases.

-       Use the NC Public Health Alcohol Data Dashboard to get data and talk about it for your county.

-       Business owners can track changes to revenue, share about their own experiences, and track unseen impacts like those to liability insurance and actual revenue impacts.

-       Unlike some states, NC preempts localities from many alcohol-related policies that protect health, like increasing excise taxes or making businesses share liability for selling to minors.

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