Underage
Drinking: Success Stories
Delaware – August 18, 2003
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With support from the OJJDP
Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Initiative, community organizations, enforcement agencies, youth, and other concerned citizens are working collaboratively to
change local ordinances and enforcement practices.
Environmental Model Key to BRC?s Success in Newark, Delaware
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The Building Responsibility Coalition (BRC) has been successfully
reduced underage drinking and other high-risk drinking behavior by
?changing the norms, attitudes, polices, and practices affecting high-risk
drinking on and off the college campus,? states Tracy Bachman, BRC program
director. With the high number of young people living on and around
college campuses, the prevention of underage drinking has become a high
priority for the BRC, which is part of a National effort called ?A Matter
of Degree? funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The BRC uses an environmental model as the basis of its advocacy efforts
in policy, enforcement, and awareness. Many of the BRC?s accomplishments
stem from two main policy objectives: to control the easy accessibility of
alcohol and discounted pricing of drinks in downtown Newark, and to reduce
the secondhand negative effects of disorderly parties and high-risk
drinking on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods.
Together with the University of Delaware, the Mayor?s Alcohol Commission,
the Newark City Council, and the Newark Police Department, the BRC has
actively pursued environmental change to impact underage and other
high-risk drinking in the Newark area.
To assist the City of Newark in directing alcohol policies and programs,
the Mayor?s Alcohol Commission was formed in November 2001. The
commission?s efforts has resulted in the City of Newark adopting State
Alcohol Beverage Commission laws that can be enforced by local police and
used to prosecute violators in local courts. In addition, an alcohol
enforcement unit was created. The Newark City Council also voted to
increase the business license fees of alcohol sellers to help fund the
alcohol officer unit, supporting the BRC principle that costs of
additional enforcement should be paid by those who buy, sell, and use
alcohol.
In 2002, the Newark City Council passed a local ordinance that restricts
happy hours and discounted drink specials. The Newark City Council has
also been successful in adding ?dormitories? to the list of properties
protected in the zoning code from alcohol licensed establishments
operating in adjacent buildings, and placing restrictions on licensees
within 300 feet.
The Newark Police Department (NPD), an integral partner in this venture,
has increased patrols in neighborhoods surrounding the university to
reduce alcohol-related complaints from permanent residents, as well as
compliance checks of local establishments, thanks to OJJDP grants.
BRC efforts in supporting policies that encourage the responsible and
legal use of alcohol are resulting in a healthier environment for
students, residents, and businesses and a reduction in harm to people and
property caused by high-risk drinking.
For more information, contact Tracy Bachman, Program Director,
Building Responsibility Campus/Community Coalition, University of Delaware
at 302-831-3115 or [email protected] or
visit the BRC website at http://www.udel.edu/brc
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