You're Invited!

Dear Coalition Members and Interested Citizens:

As the summer winds down and the kids in our communities get ready to start a fresh new year, we to want to take this opportunity to celebrate what we’ve gotten done and decide where we’re going next. Please join us for our semi-annual Coalition meeting, as we plan for the next six months! (see details below)

Together, we have accomplished so much in the last year, thanks to all of your hard work!  

One of our most recent accomplishments is the continuation of the Alcohol License Density Ordinance in downtown Madison!

Another example--we have worked together with local coalitions around the County to bring in John Underwood, a world-renowned expert, to teach our communities about the importance and impact of having strong, unified Codes of Conduct that prevent drug and alcohol use, for kids participating in activities.

We have expanded the coalition’s diversity, revamped the coalition’s website, expanded the social media (facebook, twitter, etc.), and more—all of this to make it more effective!

It’s time to celebrate these accomplishments and continue this momentum forward as there is still so much work to be done to reduce the negative impact of alcohol abuse felt throughout our community.

So please come to our meeting, be part of the discussion as we prioritize the specific policy goals to pursue as we move forward. Attached is a list of some of the ideas we have come up with so far. There are of course many possibilities and many other ideas and we need and invite yours! Come help us plan the Coalition’s next steps!

Please join us on:

                              Date:       September 8, 2011

                    Time:       4:00-6:00pm

                    Where:    Dane County Job Center

                                    Ballroom (last room on the left)

1801 Aberg Ave.

                                    Madison, WI  53704

Snacks will be provided!!

Please R.S.V.P. to Amanda at Aney@healthfirstwi.org or call 608-268-2620!

*To help make the planning more efficient, please email me your priority ideas by August 19!* 

Good News and Bad News About ALDO Vote

With just more than an hour to spare before the alcohol license density ordinance (ALDO) would sunset, the Madison Common Council voted last night to pass a new version of the ordinance for the downtown district.

Thank you to everyone who sat through the meeting and to those who testified supporting ALDO. The Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse (DCCRAA) had a great turnout at the meeting! Thank you everyone so much for your hard work and many hours spent in evening meetings on this issue.

So the good news: ALDO passed.

The bad news: this new version of ALDO is a significantly weaker and watered down version of its former self.

So here's what we have on the books to limit the number of alcohol-outlets downtown in order to curb the alcohol-related violence, crime and destruction in an environment where over-consumption is not only accepted but almost encouraged every weekend.

• ALDO will be around for the next two years, with a sunset date of this time in 2013.
• There is a new exemption for Entertainment Venues that allows such establishments to have up to 70 percent alcohol revenue. This includes establishments with activities such as board games, volleyball and shuffleboard. Bar or "entertainment venue", you tell me. The number of these venues allowed to open downtown will be capped at seven though. 
• One change the DCCRAA did make sure was made was eliminating the ability for these establishments to apply for a Class A liquor license - off-premise alcohol sales. This was in the amendments to be voted on on ALDO last night and was apparently a mistake that was caught and removed.
• The window of time to open a new bar or tavern after an existing bar or tavern closes was 365 days in the original ALDO but has been doubled in this new ALDO to 730 days.
• The Exceptional Circumstance clause of ALDO originally granted a 25 percent allowable alcohol revenue. This is for businesses that provide other goods or services but also have some alcohol sales, such a Savior Faire on the Capital Square. In this new ALDO, the allowable alcohol revenue has been increased from 25 percent to 50 percent.
• A good addition to ALDO that has come out of this debate is that an annual review of ALDO and the ALDO district is now required, which will be completed by the Alcohol Policy Coordinator for the city.This annual review will collect the appropriate data needed to properly asses the ordinance.
• Another outcome of the great public testimony from ALDO supporters at last night's meeting was the inclusion of the Public Health Department and the Madison Police Department participation in part of the ALDO resolution voted on last night that charges the City to create a business-friendly alcohol license plan for the ALDO district. 

Whew! Hope you made it through the recap of last night's meeting and the summary of what ALDO has become. The reason we still have ALDO at all in Madison can certainly be attributed to all its supporters hard work. Thank you again to everyone who has spent time at ANY of the meetings throughout the last year debating the need for an ALDO and the manner in which it should be passed.

The Coalition is disappointed by the amendments that significantly weaken the ordinance, but we need to remember to celebrate our successes. Madison still has ALDO, we have not completely lost it. After a quick pat on the back, we can jump back on the horse and start pushing for a stronger version.

Where's Aldo? - We need you or we may lose it for good!

We need your help to keep our downtown safe and healthy!

Credit: Flickr - Scutter

Madison's downtown used to be a place with unique character that families could enjoy as well as those heading out for a night to the local establishments. A few years ago, the tables began tipping and we were losing our downtown as it became more and more saturated with alcohol. In 2006 we saw the results of this in our downtown crime reports which showed a steady increase in violent crimes. 

To address this, our city implemented an alcohol license density ordinance (ALDO) in 2007 as an overwhelming number of studies from around the globe show that limiting the number of alcohol outlets in an alcohol outlet-dense area will reduce violence and crime.

From the time ALDO was implemented until now we have seen that reduction - crime, disorder and alcohol-related crime calls to police in the ALDO area have decreased according to police records.

But now, some of our city's leaders want ALDO to go away because a few special interest groups have convinced them that the money alcohol brings in matters more than the health and safety of our community. What those groups don't include is the bill taxpayers must pick up to pay for the damage and crime that increases as the number of bars increase. 

On Tuesday, July 5th, we need you to show your support for ALDO at the Common Council meeting. Without your support, this critical ordinance may go away, a dangerous move for our downtown as the progress we've made there will be lost.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, July 5th, 2011 in the:

City County Building 

Room 201

210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse wants to see the Madison community, including businesses, thrive. But adding to the already saturated bar market in our downtown will not carry our neighborhood forward! Let's keep ALDO strong and make it permenent! 


For more information visit our website by clicking here.

Not Every Risk Pays Off

Not every risk pays off

It’s no surprise that drunk driving is never a wise decision, but many times people have the idea in their heads that “it won’t happen to me.” Maybe that’s what Ryan Dunn, star of MTV’s popular show “Jackass” and avid risk-taker, thought as well. But despite all of Dunn’s stunts (from frightening, to funny, to foolish) his life was ended short by a poor decision to get behind the wheel when intoxicated.

Crashes while driving intoxicated can happen to you, your friends and your family. In fact, according to data from a car insurance company, 30 U.S. citizens die every day in car accidents with alcohol-impaired drivers. That’s one death every 48 minutes!

But maybe you don’t drink and drive—you make responsible decisions and want a safer and healthier life for you and your family. That doesn’t mean you are safe from those drivers that do decide to get behind the wheel after drinking. And as a citizen of Wisconsin how safe are you? Wisconsin currently has the worst drunk driving rate in the nation, and in 2009 Wisconsin was ranked the 11^th state in terms of highest percentage of DUI related deaths. And those are just the reported deaths. Think of how many more people get behind the wheel and cause crashes with injuries, or crashes that aren’t even reported.

And then there are those that drink and drive and get away with it—it’s probable that Ryan Dunn had driven drunk more than once. But no one should assume that every time you get behind the wheel you’ll be just as lucky as the last time. Because that’s just what it is—luck. No one is “skilled” or “good at” driving drunk. Each time a person makes the foolish, irresponsible and destructive decision to drive while intoxicated they have an increased chance of causing fatalities or harm to themselves and others as well as legality issues.

Driving while drunk can be heavily attributed to abusive alcohol use which hinders a person’s ability to make wise decisions and furthermore inhibits their ability to drive. Health First wants a healthier Wisconsin, a safer Wisconsin for families. In order to do so, we need to move towards reducing alcohol abuse so that people are able to make good decisions while still enjoying non-risky drinking behavior. This will lead to things like less money being put towards law enforcement pursuing alcohol-related crimes, including cracking down on drunk driving. What’s more, it will save lives.

If you would like more resources on how to prevent alcohol abuse, please visit our webpage at: http://www.healthfirstwi.org/alcohol/resources.php.

Stay safe and make positive choices!

Mifflin - Need I say more?

Flickr - MJKauz

If you live in Madison, it's hard to miss the recap of this past weekend's Mifflin event and the horrors that took place...

One shattered kneecap after a victim was hit with a baseball bat...
Two separate stabbings and at least two sexual assaults...
Three MPD officers injured...

The list, unfortunately, goes on and on. Mifflin was a disaster but good can come from it. Mifflin is the culmination of a growing alcohol abuse problem that plagues not only Madison, but Dane County and Wisconsin. It's time to step up and prevent risky and problem drinking and, fortunately, there are evidence-based strategies that we can pursue in order to do this.

To reduce alcohol abuse we have to reduce what those in the field call the "Four A's":
Making alcohol less Available, Attractive, misuse less Acceptable and less Affordable. Can you see where Mifflin went wrong?

Flickr - MVWorks

So where do we go from here? Well Mayor Soglin has a good idea in making changes to the conditional permit process so those applying for this permit, sometimes called a "picnic license" have to go before city officials who will make decisions to allow or not allow it. That is a great step in the right direction and we applaud Mayor Soglin for his efforts to address this issue.

What else can we do? Madison made the right move implementing an alcohol-outlet density ordinance in downtown a few years ago, but that very ordinance could potentially sunset if our city officials don't vote it through by July 5th. Alcohol-outlet density ordinances are evidence-based strategies to reduce violent crime in an area saturated by bars. Studies worldwide show that if you reduce the number of alcohol outlets...there's that A again (availability)... you will reduce violence and crime in that area. So we must protect the alcohol-outlet density ordinance, keep it strong and make it permanent.

The Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse is happy to work with the city and other policy-makers and stake-holders to reduce the very real, very negative and very costly burden of alcohol abuse that was so blatantly depicted in last weekends event. Mifflin can and should be a learning experience for all of us that it is time to address the alcohol misuse present in Madison and help the businesses, families, students and all those that live work and play in this area thrive.

Want to hear more about what went down on Mifflin Saturday? Click here.

For more evidence-based strategies to prevent alcohol abuse, click here.

FTC Needs Your Input! - Does Self-Regulation of Alcohol Beverage Manufacturers Work?

The Federal Trade Commission announced plans to begin a study of the self-regulation of the Alcohol Beverage Industry. The Commission began major reports on the effectiveness of self-regulation among this industry in 1999 and the upcoming study will serve as the part of the basis for their fourth report. Out of past reports have come recommendations such as the Industry should have third-party review boards and the Industry should raise their ad standards. The new report will examine if voluntary guidelines are working today to reduce advertising and marketing of alcohol to underage audiences.

So here's where you come in. The FTC is looking for public comment on the proposed collection of data from alcohol manufacturers, the first step they must take in order to conduct their study. The topics they are looking to include are:

• "the companies' compliance with voluntary advertising placement provisions, sales and marketing expenditures;
• the status of third-party review of complaints regarding compliance with voluntary advertising codes; and 
• alcohol industry data-collection practices."

To share your comment on this issue click here.

The Marin Institute has also released a report on this topic titled, "Why Big Alcohol Can't Police Itself A Review of Advertising Self-Regulation in the Distilled Spirits Industry." It's definitely worth checking out. The report examines the code previsions the Industry is supposed to "voluntarily" follow, the number of complaints against ads violating these codes and follow-up action taken.

Let FTC know how you feel about the Alcohol Industry's self-regulation. Does it work? It doesn't take much looking into before coming to the easy conclusion of... no.

It's That Time Again! The Alcohol License Review Committee Meeting!

It's already mid-March! Can you believe it?! I know I can't! With the middle of the month comes... Alcohol License Review Committee (ALRC)! The meeting, tomorrow night (Wednesday March 16th) will be at its usual place, the City County Building rm 201. At this meeting, the ALRC will likely be VOTING on the proposed changes to the Alcohol License Density Ordinance.

The changes include:

Entertainment Venue Exception -proposed change would add new exception for establishments that provide entertainment, discussion continues over allowed percentage of alcohol revenue for this type of establishment.

    Coalition's Position: The Coalition does not support the entertainment venue exemption as drafted and the DCCRAA believes any entity with more than 50% of its revenue coming from alcohol sales will, in fact, make a significant contribution to the alcohol problems in the ALDO area.

 

Exceptional circumstances -proposed change would increase allowed percentage of alcohol revenue from 25 percent to 50 percent of total revenue for businesses in this category.

    Coalition's Position: If an outlet gets more than 50% alcohol revenue, it should be viewed as a bar not a restaurant or entertainment venue. More than half of a business’ revenue does not need to come from alcohol in order for it to be successful. Therefore, the Coalition feels the exceptional circumstance clause should remain as it is in the existing ordinance with no more than a 25% liquor sales allowed for non-bar establishments. Our community will thrive when we address the very real issue of alcohol abuse in Madison by keeping ALDO strong.

365 day clause -proposed change would increase window from 365 days to 730.

    Coalition's Position: Doubling the window of time for allowing a new tavern to open does not limit and slowly reduce through attrition the number of alcohol outlets. Therefore, it does not do what ALDO was set out to accomplish. If an establishment closes and new tenants are not found within 365 days, our leaders should seize that opportunity to reduce liquor outlets in our neighborhood.

If you care about the health and safety of our downtown, please stand up for ALDO with us. If you are able to attend the ALRC meeting Wednesday, March 16th at 5:30, please join us as we support ALDO. If you can't make it, consider submitting a written testimony, or taking a few minutes to register in support of ALDO, in-person, before the meeting.

For more information on the drafted changes to ALDO click here.

Join the Dane County Coalition's Facebook page to stay informed on what efforts are underway to prevent alcohol abuse in your community by clicking here.