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Many Bars Over-Serve Alcohol
- From PIRE
By Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation - Bringing Research to Life
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Trainer of Alcoholic Beverage Servers and Sellers
I have served as a contracted trainer for Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control's STAR Curriculum for Responsible Server Training for the past five years. This was due to a city ordinance mandating that all vendors be trained every three years. Through a careful study reviewing drunk driving records and underage citations and onsite investigative aide inspections, this educational program (as well as other education interventions like TIPS, Safe Serve and Bar Code) have helped reduce down the underage drinking and drunk driving.
Environmental strategies like social host ordinances, keg registration ordinances, mandatory alcoholic beverage server training ordinances and support of law enforcement and the judiciary would be much more impactive than following the "normative model" advocated by the College/University presidents.
For more information, you may contact Sandra Watts at Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control Training Branch - (502) 564-4850.
- Gary Hall August 20, 2008 7:57AM
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Side: No
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Depends on what you mean by "controlled setting"
I agree that it is very important to train alcohol vendors.
But I don't agree with the argument that bars are not a controlled setting just because half of drunk drivers drank in a bar (I guess the other half drank at home) and that bars sometimes serve intoxicated people.
What doesn't happen in a bar are things like passing out on the floor after drinking multiple shots and choking on your own vomit-- in most bars, someone is going to notice and take action! Similarly, to take sexual advantage of a drunk woman, you have to get her out of the bar and away from the watchful eyes of her friends rather than just dragging her into a nearby bedroom at the house party. It is also harder to ply her with a stronger drink then she is expecting, or refill it when she isn't looking if the bartender makes the drink and someone has to order each one.
- Abigail Adams August 21, 2008 7:33PM
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Side: Yes
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Poor Facts
First of all, the statement that half of the people arrested for drunk driving came from bars proves absolutely nothing. This means that it's a coin toss as to whether a drunk person is coming from a bar or a private setting. Well where else do you think they are coming from? All this should tell you is that people who decide to drive drunk will do it whether or not they are at a commercial establishment, at home, or at a friend's house.
As for the 3/4 of 8th graders say that it is "fairly easy" to get alcohol statement, this should raise many questions in anyone's mind who comes across it. If adults are truly stupid enough to give or sell alcohol to an 8th grader, this doesn't say much for the argument by PIRE that adult's minds are any more developed than teenagers, much less 8th graders. I don't think I have ever heard of or seen an 8th grader who looks over 18, much less 21. I find it hard to believe that this fact did not come from an altered or severely warped survey of Junior High students.
The fact is that bars and other commercial establishments that serve alcohol are guaranteed to either have a sober staff or be shut down very quickly. This results in a much higher chance that if something goes wrong, there will be someone with a clear mind to do what needs to be done to help the intoxicated individual.
- PhilyG
January 29, 2009 9:10PM
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Side: Yes
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So what if they overserve? You don't have to overdrink
So what if they overserve? If you drink, you drink. If you die, you die, just like it says on the license plates here in New Hampshire.
- TomAlciere
February 16, 2009 5:58PM
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Side: Yes
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