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CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Preventing Excessive Alcohol Consumption: Dram Shop Liability

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Dram shop liability allows the owner or server of a retail alcohol establishment where a customer recently consumed alcoholic beverages to be held legally responsible for the harms inflicted by that customer. Examples of such harms may include death, injury or other damages as a result of an alcohol-related car crash. Historically, the term dram shop referred to any establishment where alcohol was sold; a dram was a measure of alcohol.

Some states impose restrictions on dram shop liability by capping the amount of compensation allowed in suits, by increasing the evidence required to demonstrate responsibility, or by imposing statutes of limitations.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force concludes on the basis of strong evidence that dram shop liability is effective in preventing and reducing alcohol-related harms.

Impact

Dram shop liability laws, or when the owner of an establishment that sells alcohol is responsible for the harmful actions of a customer after he or she buys a drink, leaves the location, and then causes harm, have the ability to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harms.

Results / Accomplishments

Results from the Systematic Reviews:
Eleven studies qualified for the review.

• Studies were conducted in multiple states in the United States.
• Studies assessed the effects of state dram shop liability laws on diverse outcomes, including motor vehicle fatalities overall, alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities, alcohol consumption behaviors, alcohol-related violence, and alcohol-related diseases.
-Most found reductions in alcohol-related outcomes associated with the presence of dram shop liability (11 studies)
-Alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities: median decrease of 6.4% (interquartile interval: 3.7% to 11.3%; 6 studies)
• One study assessed the effects of two high-profile dram shop liability suits in Texas.
•Estimated effects on single vehicle nighttime crashes (closely associated with excessive alcohol consumption).
-6.6% decrease as a result of one suit
-5.3% decrease as a result of the other

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
Topics
Health / Alcohol & Drug Use
Source
Community Guide Branch Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Date of publication
Mar 2010
Location
USA
For more details
Target Audience
Adults
Impact DuPage