Alcohol tax and price policies decrease alcohol-related morbidity and mortality outcomes

After reviewing fifty articles, spanning four decades, that provided data on the impact alcohol tax and price levels have on alcohol-related morbidity and mortality, researchers concluded that taxes on alcohol can prevent many alcohol-related problems.

According to CADCA's Research Into Action for January-February 2011: . . . alcohol taxes and prices have a significant and negative relationship to every outcome group evaluated including: alcohol-related violence, traffic crash fatalities and drunk driving, rates of STDs and risky sexual behavior, other drug use, and crime. Suicide was the only category that did not demonstrate a similar negative relationship in that increases in alcohol taxes and prices were not related to decreases in suicides.

Highly involved partners boost coalition success

A recent study evaluated the efforts of the Allies Against Asthma Program, demonstrating that community coalitions with highly involved partnerships are the most successful in producing policy and systems change. The results offer useful implications for anti-drug coalitions to achieve community-level outcomes, according to CADCA's latest Research Into Action bulletin.

At the end of the bulletin, CADCA notes that growing evidence demonstrates that coalitions can achieve community-level outcomes by focusing on policies and systems to affect key health indicators.

The findings also suggest that coalitions with fewer highly engaged partners, as opposed to many less engaged partners, contribute to greater changes.

Early prevention programs important

I receive "Research into Action" email messages from CADCA's (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) National Coalition Institute on a regular basis. The latest one is entitled, "Early Intervention Can Reduce Marijuana Use Initiation Among Youth". It says:

Parents have the greatest affect on a young person's decision to use marijuana during early adolescence. After age 15, youth tend to base the decision more on peer influence.This research, published in Substance Use & Misuse indicates that parents must reach young people before age 13 to increase the likelihood that the youth will choose against initiating marijuana use.

It goes on to suggest the following ways to prevent youth marijuana use:

• Implement parenting programs and education earlier -- while parents have a child in pre to early adolescence.

• Target prevention efforts at reducing the initiation of alcohol and cigarette use among adolescents of all ages.

• Work with schools and families and other community members more closely on fostering environments where young people are less likely to be offered marijuana by peers and others.

Other Research into Action messages include:

Children's Knowledge/Opinions May Predict Youth Alcohol/Tobacco Use -- a particularly good one for our community since one of our main risk factors is "intention to use" alcohol;

Promoting Youth-Adult Partnerships in Coalition Decisionmaking;

A Community Systems Approach -- Greater and More Sustainable Impact through Policy;

Going Beyond Program Implementation -- Issues to Consider When Institutionalizing an Evidence-Based Prevention Program.