141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

280653
Distribution of alcohol violation-types in North Carolina between 2000-2011

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Jennifer Cremeens, PhD, MSPH , Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Ryan J. Martin, PhD , Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Mark Jones, PhD , Department of Criminal Justice, Greenville, NC
In the state of North Carolina (NC) Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) Agents enforce laws that pertain to the sale, purchase, transportation, manufacturing, consumption, and possession of alcohol. For instance, ALE officers enforce laws concerning underage consumption, fake identification ownership, and underage intoxicated driving. We conducted a secondary data analysis using a dataset provided by the NC ALE, which contained every ALE citation issued from 2000-2011.

Descriptive statistics were used to explore distribution of alcohol citations, including distributions by demographic factors, county, month, and day of the week. Approximately 52,409 citations were issued by ALE during this time. The majority of the citations were issued to non-Hispanic (96%), white (89%), males (65%). The median age was 19 years old (range 16-94). The months with the most citations were August through October and April. Citations issued on Thursday through Sunday accounted for approximately 87% of all citations issued. The most common types of violations were underage possession of beer/wine (55.5%), providing beer/wine to someone underage (13.6%), and underage possession of liquor (8.8%).

In addition to reporting descriptive trends, subsequent analyses will examine correlations between alcohol-related behaviors and citations. Specifically, we will use publicly available county-specific aggregate Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to examine correlations between alcohol violations and alcohol-related behaviors, including current alcohol consumption and binge drinking.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe the distribution of alcohol violations in NC over an 12 year time span. Identify the dominant characteristics of individuals being cited for alcohol violations.

Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol Problems

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am currently serving as one of the primary investigators for this research project. In addition, I have published several research articles in the area of alcohol use.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.