best practice

Social influence approaches use normative education methods and anti-drugs resistance skills training. School-based programmes that implement the concepts of social influence and life skills were found in a large trial (Faggiano et al., 2010) to be effective in:

• reducing overall drunkenness (OR 0.80, 95 % CI 0.67 to 0.97, 1 RCT, N= 7079);
• reducing drunkenness in 3 or more episodes (OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.47 to 0.81, 1 RCT, N= 7079) 

Electronic Age Verification devices (EAVs) were found not effective according to a narrative review (Calafat, Juan and Duch, 2009) in: 

• increasing the frequency of age verification in recreational settings.

Replacement of pint glasses with toughened glassware was found in two systematic reviews (Jones et al, 2010; Ker and Chinnock, 2008) to cause even more harm:

• experimental glass caused more injury than the control (only narrative results).

Educational interventions were found in a systematic review (Bolier et al 2011) to have no effects on:

• risky behaviours (use of drugs such as ecstasy, GHB and alcohol)

Information provision (e.g. prevention or harm reduction information material, such as brochures and pamphlets on intoxication and related harm) was not found to be an effective measure in a narrative review (EMCDDA, 2012) in:

• reducing drug- and alcohol-related problems.

Evidence for the effectiveness of police intervention or increased enforcement of licensing laws in reducing alcohol-related incidents was found in two systematic reviews (Jones et al 2010; Bolier et al 2011) and in a narrative review (EMCDDA, 2012) to be inconclusive regarding:

• under-age sales (narrative results).
• sales to intoxicated clients (narrative results).  

The Sacramento Neighbourhood Alcohol Prevention Project (CCT focused on community mobilisation, community awareness, RBS and law enforcement in relation to under-age access to alcohol and intoxicated clients) showed no effects in a narrative review (EMCDDA, 2012) and in a systematic review (Joneset al 2010) in:

• reduced sales to under-age and pseudo-intoxicated clients.

Restricting opening hours was found to have no effect in a narrative review (Calafat, Juan and Duch, 2009) in:

• reducing the numbers of alcohol- or assault-related visits to emergency rooms.

The effectiveness of interventions placing interlocks (mechanism that automatically prevents the car from launching under certain conditions) on the ignition to prevent an alcohol-impaired driver from operating the car (used with drink-driving offenders), was limited according to two narrative reviews (Calafat, 2010; Calafat, Juan and Duch, 2009):

• it showed good results during the period of time they were using the interlock but the effects disappeared when the interlock was removed. 

Programmes targeting drink-driving were found to have no impact on client behaviours in a systematic review (Jones, Hughes, Atkinson and Bellis, 2010), namely:

• programmes promoting responsible drinking, targeting seventeen licensed premises, eight intervention premises and nine control premises (n = 575 clients) and aimed at promoting responsible drinking and at placing breath analysis machines, revealed no significant differences in alcohol consumption based on BAL measurements (one low quality RCT study).