About Us
The Alcohol Policy Panel (APP) is a coalition of community leaders from diverse sectors of San Diego County who convene to prevent binge and underage drinking through policy advancement.
The APP is facilitated by the Institute for Public Strategies, a nonprofit organization that specializes in population-wide upstream prevention. The coalition applies the latest research and best practices in the field of upstream prevention to its advocacy and strategy efforts.
Vision
A county where the role of alcohol is determined by its community stakeholders and not by the alcohol industry.
Mission
To advance informed alcohol policies that promote safe, healthy and thriving communities.
Binge Drinking – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines binge drinking as five (5) or more alcoholic drinks for males or four (4) or more alcoholic drinks for females on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on at least one (1) day in the past month.
Approach
The Alcohol Policy Panel (APP) takes an upstream prevention approach to prevent binge and underage drinking particularly by advocating for policies that reduce the access, availability and advertising of alcohol to minors under the age of 21. Upstream prevention is a comprehensive approach to preventing problems by addressing the underlying conditions in a community that cause those problems and exploring long-term solutions. Implementing an effective and sustainable upstream prevention project requires a consistent focus on the vision for community transformation. In conjunction with this vision, well-planned and strategically implemented media advocacy, policy and systems change, data and research, community organizing and sustainability strategies meld together to achieve community transformation.
Upstream prevention focuses on community systems as opposed to individuals. It is based on the fact that individuals do not make decisions regarding their health and safety solely on the basis of personal characteristics. In reality, alcohol-related behavior and problems are influenced by a complex set of factors in the environment, such as:
- The social norms and standards of a community
- The retail and social availability of alcohol
- The formal rules and regulations associated with alcohol sales, service and use
- The degree to which these rules and regulations are effectively enforced
- Alcohol marketing including product price, placement and promotions
- Mass media messages that promote and glamorize alcohol abuse
- Community capacity to prevent alcohol-related problems
- Community engagement in preventing alcohol-related problems
Taken together, these factors determine the social acceptability of behaviors and practices and the degree to which they are considered normal.
History
The Alcohol Policy Panel (APP) was formed in 1995 when a well-respected group of community leaders from throughout San Diego County came together and proposed a menu of policies designed to reduce underage and binge drinking. Today, the APP is made up of a General Assembly, comprised of community members, law enforcement, prevention providers, and County agency representatives and sector leaders who serve as the group’s leadership arm to identify priorities, set goals and guide the implementation of the San Diego County Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative. The group meets quarterly and are informed of the latest research and policy efforts related to alcohol. They are actively engaged in advocating for change in San Diego County’s health and safety through environmental prevention strategies including media advocacy, policy development, community organizing, working with enforcement officials, and applied data collection and research.
The Policy Panel sector leaders are kept informed by a group of locally and nationally recognized expert advisors and is facilitated by the Institute for Public Strategies, a nonprofit organization that specializes in policy-based environmental prevention strategies.
Accomplishments
Healthier Beaches and Parks
- Hard alcohol restrictions in place in all 90 San Diego County parks.
- All but one San Diego County beach is now alcohol-free.
Improved Retail Alcohol Environment
- Responsible Beverage Sales and Service (RBSS) ordinances adopted in more than 10 municipalities, all yielding decreases in Place of Last Drink Survey data.
- More bartenders and servers trained in RBSS practices in San Diego County than any other county in California by 50 percent.
- Advocated to prevent local permits that would have allowed movie theaters to sell alcohol in multiple municipalities.
- Successfully advocated to prevent a local permit that would have allowed alcohol to be serve at a go-cart racing track.
- Successfully advocated with other statewide groups to prevent state legislation that would have paved the way for bars to close at 4 a.m. in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions.
Protecting Youth
- Social Host Ordinances in place in all San Diego cities and the unincorporated areas of the county.
- Successfully advocated for state legislation that prohibits the sale of powdered alcohol in California.
- Successfully advocated for state legislation that reclassified alcopops as distilled spirits and changed the taxation from 20 cents per gallon to $3.30 per gallon.
- Billboard ordinances established in multiple San Diego cities to restrict outdoor promotion of alcohol products near youth-frequented areas.
- San Diego County Law Enforcement Task Force on Alcohol and DUI established in 1999 to engage all San Diego County law enforcement agencies in conducting high-visibility, multi-jurisdictional operations to reduce underage and binge drinking.
Core Sector Leaders
Stacie Perez
Director
Housing & Clinical Services
Episcopal Community Services
Email: sperez@ecscalifornia.org
Craig Carter
Retired Chief
Escondido Police Department
Email: craigcarter911@gmail.com
Sector Leaders
Cally Bright
Deputy District Attorney
San Diego County
Email: cally.bright@sdcda.org
Dana Brown
Organizational Liaison
PACEs Connection
Email: dbrown@pacesconnection.com
Jim Crittenden
Coordinator, Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention
San Diego County Office of Education
Email: jcrittenden@sdcoe.net
Carol Green
President
Ninth District PTA
Email: cgreen@capta.org
Chief Roxana Kennedy
Chief of Police
Chula Vista Police Department
Email: rkennedy@chulavistapd.org
Elvin Lai
President/CEO, Ocean Park Inn, INC
Vice Chair of the San Diego Convention Center, &
President of the San Diego County Lodging Association.
Email: elvin@g4strategies.com
Roneet Lev, M.D.
Executive Director
Independent Emergency Physicians Consortium
Email: roneetlev@gmail.com
Jeanne McFarland
EMS Coordinator
City of Escondido
Email: jmcfarland@escondido.org
Chief James Miyashiro
Assistant Vice President for Public Safety
University of San Diego
Email: jmiyashiro@sandiego.edu
Monique Myers
Deputy District Attorney
San Diego County
Email: monique.myers@sdcda.org
Marian Novak
Project Director
Responsible Hospitality Coalition
Email: rhcsd@aol.com
Felipe Nuño
Chairperson
Otay Mesa Parks & Recreation Board
Email: felipe9@juno.com
Lupe Samaniego-Kraus
Student Health Services (Retired)
University of California San Diego
Email: lupesamaniegokraus@gmail.com
Scott Suckow
Executive Director
Liver Coalition of San Diego
Email: scott.suckow@outlook.com
Sean Verner
Executive Director
Pathfinders of San Diego
Email: admin@pathfindersofsd.com
Alcohol Policy Tools
Deemed Approved Ordinances & Conditional Use Permits
Municipalities do have a positive impact on reducing criminal activity and public nuisance activity near alcohol retail outlets by placing conditions on an alcohol retailer that ensures the business thrives, is consistent with the community’s character, and does not detract from the quality of the life of local residents. This is accomplished through a number of tools available for local control of alcohol outlets that includes:
- Conditional Use Permits
– For new alcohol retail outlets
- Deemed Approved Ordinance
– For existing alcohol retail outlets
Responsible Beverage Sales and Service (RBSS)
Responsible Beverage Sales and Service (RBSS) training provides information to bartenders, servers, managers, and store clerks about methods to prevent underage sales and over consumption of alcohol. RBSS training targets on-site alcohol establishments, like bars and restaurants, and off-site outlets selling alcohol to go, such as grocery and convenience stores.
Evidence shows that a combination of RBSS training and enforcement results in reductions in sales to underage persons and service to those who are already intoxicated.
Social Host
As a means to deter underage drinking at home parties and decrease related problems, cities and jurisdictions across San Diego County have adopted a Social Host Ordinance (SHO) – a law that holds the host(s) of underage drinking parties accountable for their actions. Violation of the SHO results in fines and/or the arrest of the host(s). As of October 2010, San Diego County had passed a SHO within each of its 18 municipalities, in addition to a countywide SHO, creating seamless coverage of the ordinance across the County.
