The Challenge

A municipal alcohol policy (MAP) is a set of comprehensive guidelines regulating the serving of alcohol on municipally owned property, including arenas, banquet halls and recreational facilities. Municipal alcohol policies specify how, where and when alcohol may be served; require training for those who serve alcohol; and outline measures to reduce the risks associated with alcohol use. Studies indicate that communities with MAPs in place report reductions in numbers of intoxicated persons and related problems (e.g., fights, accidents and injuries), and a reduction in the number of incidents of drinking by minors and illegal use of alcohol in prohibited areas (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 1996).

Staff of the public health unit in Simcoe County, a mixed urban and rural area north of Toronto, identified the need for policy measures to prevent alcohol-related problems in their community. In 1999, the percentage of binge drinkers of all ages in Simcoe County ranked higher than the provincial average; alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death among 10-44 year old residents (Simcoe County Health Status Report, 1999).

Action Taken

To address this problem, health unit staff partnered with the local FOCUS community project and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to mount a campaign aimed at encouraging municipalities in Simcoe County to adopt municipal alcohol policies (Allen and Shewfelt, 2001). The objectives of the campaign were to:

increase awareness of host, server and occupier liability
increase awareness of the purpose of, and need for, MAPs
encourage communities without MAPS to develop and implement such policies

The campaign relied on a two-stage approach to achieve these objectives. In the fall of 1999, a general awareness campaign on liability issues arising from serving minors and adults past the point of intoxication was launched. The second part of the campaign, which focused on the role of policy and planning ahead to promote safety, was launched in the spring of 2000. The primary audience of the campaign was municipal officials in Simcoe County, including elected officials, parks and recreation staff, board of health members and law enforcement personnel.

A range of strategies were employed by the campaign to convey the importance of implementing MAPS, including presentations to municipal councils, displays in the community, radio and TV appeals and special events. The most prominent campaign event was "Being Sued Can Ruin a Good Party", a community event featuring a guest presentation by Dr. Robert Solomon, the National Director of Legal Policy for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada. This event was taped for television and generated extensive media coverage in the community.

Public health nurses taking part in the campaign carried out a proactive outreach strategy with local municipalities, connecting with interested municipalities to offer support for MAP development, and recognizing municipalities that had MAPs in place through the presentation of awards at community events. SmartServe, a responsible alcohol beverage service training program, was offered to community groups and businesses throughout Simcoe County.

The campaign appeared to be successful in encouraging municipal governments to adopt MAPs. By November 2001, four new MAPs had been adopted in Simcoe County, and an additional four were in progress (Allen and Shewfelt, 2001). The Simcoe County experience illustrates how a comprehensive awareness and advocacy campaign can bring about healthy policy change.

Implications for Practice

As the Simcoe County experience illustrates, creating a political climate that supports policy is the most challenging and time-consuming part of the policy development process. The following features of the health unit's efforts to build support for MAPs contributed to a successful outcome:

a staged approach to addressing the issue which focused on raising awareness of the problems caused by high risk drinking before identifying policy as a potential solution (rather than starting out by 'selling' the policy)
a 'bottom-up' approach to policy development that emphasized working with stakeholders to create policies for their communities rather than imposing a standard 'one-size fits all' solution
the use of incentives to encourage policy adoption (recognizing municipalities that passed MAPs)
measures to support the implementation of policy (SmartServe training).