What is policy?
“…[W]e define standards for behavior or practices that are formalized to some degree (i.e. written), and embodied in rules, regulation, or operating procedures.”
Toomey, T., Wagenaar, A. Policy Options for Prevention: The Case for Alcohol Journal of Public Health Policy vol. 20, no. 2 (1999), pp. 192-213. accessed 2/17/2010
The Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project provides training, tools and technical assistance to individuals and groups working to adopt and implement alcohol policy.
The Wisconsin Alcohol Policy project supports the work of municipal leaders, law enforcement, the media and community coalitions reviewing and adopting the policies and practices to improve the alcohol environment and reduce alcohol misuse.
Every community has an alcohol environment, the local expression of Wisconsin’s alcohol culture. Like all aspects of culture, the alcohol culture can change and improve. A municipality, its schools, organizations and residents can adopt policies and practices to improve the local alcohol environment over time.
Improving the alcohol culture allows us to reduce alcohol misuse without significantly impacting adults who drink in moderation.
The Wisconsin State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse has endorsed 49 recommendations individual, community and state action to improve the alcohol environment in the 2010 ACE Report: Changing the Wisconsin’s Alcohol Environment to Promote Safe and Healthy Lives(PDF). The ACE Report includes suggestions your community and community groups can implement easily and inexpensively.
