Focusing on Substance Abuse

Heavy Drinking and Drunk Driving: Which Deterrents Work?

We investigated the effects of potential deterrents—price, alcohol availability, and criminal and tort law—on driving under the influence of alcohol. This work involved conducting a national telephone survey of owners/managers and employees of establishments that are highly dependent on the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption. The survey served two purposes: (1) to solicit information on the establishments' policies and procedures that might influence drinkers; and (2) to interview employees from each establishment to determine whether stated policies and procedures actually matched the practices of the establishment. The survey tested the hypothesis that various forms of liability affect the behavior of commercial servers in ways that are likely to reduce drinking. These behaviors include pricing and reducing frequency of promotions (for example, "happy hours"), adopting precautions intended to lower the probability of serving minors, developing interventions directed at reducing service to obviously intoxicated adults, and training servers. This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Evaluation of Head Start Partnerships to Promote Substance-Free Communities

In 1994, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation made awards to six Head Start grantees to design and develop a substance-abuse prevention model, Free to Grow, that would strengthen the families and neighborhoods of economically disadvantaged preschool children. The model incorporated concepts from risk and resiliency theory of substance-abuse prevention, focusing on individual, family, and community factors associated with substance use and abuse. The evaluation used process analysis and case study methods to assess and compare the five projects, and to generate recommendations about whether and how to sustain and replicate Free to Grow activities.

Data collection included site visits and telephone interviews with Free to Grow project staff and with associated Head Start and partnership organization staff, interviews with federal and state Head Start officials, focus groups with participating families and representatives of community organizations, and review of documents provided by the projects and by the program. In addition, we collected information on the costs of Free to Grow and conducted case conferences on selected family and community-directed interventions.

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