Relationships Between Minimum Alcohol Pricing andCrime During the Partial Privatization of a CanadianGovernment Alcohol Monopoly

摘要

Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate theindependent effects of increases in minimum alcohol prices and densitiesof private liquor stores on crime outcomes in British Columbia, Canada,during a partial privatization of off-premise liquor sales. Method: Atime-series cross-sectional panel study was conducted using mixedmodel regression analysis to explore associations between minimumalcohol prices, densities of liquor outlets, and crime outcomes across 89local health areas of British Columbia between 2002 and 2010. Archivaldata on minimum alcohol prices, per capita alcohol outlet densities,and ecological demographic characteristics were related to measures ofcrimes against persons, alcohol-related traffic violations, and non-alco-hol-related traffic violations. Analyses were adjusted for temporal andregional autocorrelation. Results: A 10% increase in provincial mini-mum alcohol prices was associated with an 18.81% (95% CI: ±17.99%, p < .05) reduction in alcohol-related traffic violations, a 9.17% (95%CI: ±5.95%, p < .01) reduction in crimes against persons, and a 9.39%(95% CI: ±3.80%, p< .001) reduction in total rates of crime outcomesexamined. There was no significant association between minimum alco-hol prices and non-alcohol-related traffic violations (p > .05). Densitiesof private liquor stores were not significantly associated with alcohol-involved traffic violations or crimes against persons, though they werewith non-alcohol-related traffic violations. Conclusions: Reductions incrime events associated with minimum-alcohol-price changes were moresubstantial and specific to alcohol-related events than the countervailingincreases in densities of private liquor stores. The findings lend furthersupport to the application of minimum alcohol prices for public healthand safety objectives.