The impact of legal provisions on barroom behavior: toward an alcohol-problems prevention policy

State and local legal provisions have a major impact on a community's drinking patterns in licensed drinking establishments. State Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) laws regulate how many (if any) bars are permissible in a given locale; set standards for management practice; set limitations on location and design; establish who may have ownership interests; and establish price guidelines, either directly through price maintenance statutes or indirectly through excise tax policy. State law may also hold bar owners liable for injuries caused by their drunk or underaged patrons to members of the general public ("dram shop" laws and case decisions). This paper reviews the scope and character of these legal provisions, discusses their potential role in preventing alcohol-related problems, and analyzes the inadequacy of most existing bar studies for developing public health policy measures. It concludes with a discussion of a prevention strategy ("server intervention") and an agenda for future research studies.