Off-Premise Alcohol Outlets

At a Glance:

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Date: 2011

Vital Condition: Basic Needs for Health and Safety

Determinants of Health: substance use

Affected Population: People Living in Poverty

Research Methods: Literature Review, Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research

Community Types: urban

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This HIA adds to the scope of a previous HIA that examined the relationship between liquor outlets and violence.  The project team assessed the relationship between high concentrations of liquor outlets and violence, with the goal of informing the current ‘non-conforming alcohol outlet amortization proposal’ to ensure that amortized alcohol outlet licenses do not relocate to become nuisances in other Baltimore communities.

Based on a literature review, the HIA found that there is evidence, with support for causality, that there is a relationship between alcohol outlets and violent crime. Local analyses suggest that neighborhoods with non-conforming alcohol outlets have higher violent crime rates.

The HIA made several recommendations for additional strategies including dispersal standards for new off-premise alcohol outlets; reducing the number of districts where off-premise alcohol outlets are permitted by right; and including median count of crime and health status of the surrounding neighborhood in the conditional use consideration process.

This Health Impact Assessment Report first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health. The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health was originally developed by the Health Impact Project, formerly a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The creation of this resource was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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