Fewer liquor stores may lead to lesser homicides

Reducing the number of businesses that sell alcohol may lower the homicide rate in the state, according to a new research in Baltimore. According to Pamela J Trangenstein, PhD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, there is an ongoing violence epidemic in Baltimore, with recent years breaking records for a number of homicides.

Baltimore is in the process of rewriting its zoning laws, and Trangenstein and colleagues patterned their research after the proposed zoning changes in that city as they relate to alcohol. Using a computer model that took into account homicide rates in Baltimore and previous research that shows 50 per cent of violent crime can be attributed to access to alcohol, the researchers analysed three main policy changes.

The first would reduce by 20 per cent of all outlets that sell alcohol. The second proposal would close liquor stores only in residential areas. The third would close outlets licensed as bars or taverns that were really operating as liquor stores.

The authors note three main reasons alcohol access is linked to violence. First, more outlets mean people can get alcohol more easily— they simply don’t have to travel far to get it. Second, a large concentration of businesses that sell alcohol can create “an atmosphere of immoral or illegal behavior” and likely will attract young men, who themselves are more prone to violence. Last, a high concentration of alcohol outlets brings more highrisk drinkers together in a smaller area, “fostering opportunities for violence,” the authors write.