DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATIONS OF A CITY-LEVEL ALCOHOL AVAILABILITY ANDALCOHOL-PROBLEMS DATABASE

Data on alcohol availability and problems in all cities in Los Angeles County were collected from several different sources and linked toget her to form a Local Alcohol Availability Database (LAAD). The two majo r purposes of the project are to provide a city-level alcohol availabi lity and alcohol-related problems database needed by local community a lcohol policy planners and to collect the data necessary for research on the relationship between these measures. The prevalence of drunk dr iving arrests is displayed on a map. We describe how the LAAD has been used to guide alcohol policy decisions. A fixed year and city effects regression model suggests that outlet density is positively related t o several alcohol-related problems.