Study Inspires Single-Serving Alcohol in a California City

One Southern California city will turn research into action with a new law banning single sales of beer and other alcohol products, citing a direct link between alcohol and crime, The Sun newspaper reported this week.

The City Council in San Bernardino, located about an hour’s drive away from Los Angeles, approved a new ordinance taking aim at malt liquors and fortified wines sold in individual containers. The ban is designed to decrease criminal activity and improve public safety.

The ban includes: beer and malt liquor in containers smaller than 40 ounces; certain types of fortified wine and malt liquor sold individually instead of in factory packaging; malt liquor with a high amount of alcohol; and hard liquor in small bottles.

Officials said the ban will only cover markets, not restaurants. It allows the city to take action against store owners who continue to sell the banned drinks.

The ordinance was inspired by the research of University of California, Riverside sociologist Professor Robert Nash Parker who has spent more than three decades researching links between alcohol and crime.

Parker's report used city crime data and a survey of San Bernardino liquor outlets to conclude that areas with high availability of tall cans and other single-size servings of alcohol are more prone to violence.

Parker and study co-author Kevin McCaffree used San Bernardino police data to map incidents of homicides and other violent crimes in 2007. The researchers then paired that information with a survey of San Bernardino liquor vendors developed by the Institute of Public Strategies that devoted a significant share of their cooler space to single servings of beer and malt liquor.

Project Director Dan Skiles said IPS partnered with the city’s public health department and helped the city to draft the ordinance as well as conducting policy research and data collection for two years. Around that time, the Drug-Free San Bernardino Coalition took action, too. Their group consisted of educators, law enforcement, faith community, treatment providers, youth, and business representatives whose testimonials at council meetings helped to persuade the unanimous vote that will help to reduce youth access to alcohol and all its subsequent effects. Since the ordinance has been “deemed approved,” the coalition will shift gears to what Stiles called an “enforcement campaign” as attorneys attempt to challenge the law.