Citation

Nazif-Munoz JI, Martínez P, Balboa M, Brown TG. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

DOI

10.15288/jsad.22-00302

PMID

36971762

Abstract

BACKGROUND: More than 270000 people die every year from alcohol-related crashes across the world. Introducing alcohol per se laws (APL) based upon a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold of 0.05ml% could save at least 16304 lives. Nevertheless, little is known about the evolution in adoption of APLs at this BAC threshold. This study organizes the available data to chart the evolution of APLs across 183 countries from 1936 to 2021.

METHODS: A review to identify relevant policies involved: i) probing multiple data sources, including legislation archives, international and national reports, and peer-review articles; and ii) an iterative record search and screening by two independent researchers, data collection, and expert consultations.

RESULTS: Data for 183 countries was organized and integrated to form a new global dataset. A global diffusion process framework describes the evolution in APL based on the dataset. In the first period of analysis (1936-1968), APLs emerged in Nordic countries as well as England, Australia and USA. APLs then spread to other parts of continental Europe and to Canada. By 2021 more than 140 countries had adopted an APL with a BAC threshold of at least 0.05ml%.

CONCLUSION: The present study offers a methodology for tracing other alcohol-related policies from a cross-national and historic perspective. Future studies could integrate other variables into this dataset to chart the speed of adoption of APLs and to test how changes in APLs correlate with alcohol-related crashes over time between and within jurisdictions.

Keywords: Ethanol impaired driving

Language: en

Keywords

Blood Alcohol Content; Alcohol per se laws; cross-national analysis; diffusion; globalization