Strategies

Provide information and increase motivation to change or prevent problematic alcohol consumption in a short session; also called alcohol screening & brief intervention

Hold alcohol retailers legally responsible for injuries or damage caused by providing alcohol to intoxicated or underage customers; also called commercial host liability laws

Use specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Initiate or increase retailer compliance checks, shoulder tap operations, parking lot observation outside alcohol establishments for laws that prohibit alcohol sales to minors

Use specialized courts to work with parents involved in the child welfare system who may lose custody of their children due to substance abuse

Allow eligible patients to use marijuana for medical purposes; often called medical marijuana laws (MMLs)

Maintain the current legal age when an individual can purchase alcoholic beverages; currently 21 years in all states

Distribute Naloxone to trained community members and first responders to reverse opioid overdoses

Regulate short-term loans that must be repaid by a borrower’s next pay day via bans, caps on maximum interest rates and loan amounts, or require minimum loan terms and credit cost

Provide sterile injection equipment and often other treatment and referral services to people who inject drugs; also called needle or syringe exchange programs and needle syringe programs