Reducing minors & drunk young adults access to alcohol in nightlife settings – Kranj, Slovenia

The intervention model for application in Kranj (Slovenia) will be centred in nightlife settings including bars, pubs, nightclubs and discos. Some other premises such as food/drink stores and gas stations will be included in the pilot application of the model as well. Some of those premises are opened at nights and are frequently used by minors and young adults for purchasing alcohol beverages even if is not allowed (by law) to sell alcohol in Slovenia after 9pm (21.00) in such premises. This practice (selling alcohol beverages to minors and drunk youngsters) is rather common during the last few years, although it is against the law. It contributes to the normalization of alcohol consumption and its extension to other contexts and practices, and it is the generator of many health and safety problems (such as emergency admissions, traffic accidents, violence etc.).

The needs assessment has shown that the availability of alcohol for minors is a serious problem in Slovenia (and Kranj as well). During the mystery shopping project in 2014 conducted by well-known youth organization No Excuse Slovenia in 12 cities and 48 locations, such as supermarkets, gas stations and bars/pubs, in 92% cases (data for Slovenia) alcohol beverages were sold to minors without any ID checking (96% in Kranj). No data on selling alcohol to intoxicated young adults is available for Slovenia and Kranj; however, this gap will be bridged during the pilot intervention (baseline & further collection of data).

The needs assessment has also elucidated some intermediate factors that contribute to the problem including: weakness of the law enforcement in nightlife environment (e.g. not enough human and financial resources to conduct more frequent and regular checks), wide alcohol availability at commercial and social level, and very high social acceptance of alcohol use in general in Slovenia.

Therefore, the model designed for the intervention will focus on strategies oriented to influence those intermediate factors and will be built on comprehensive multicomponent community-based approach.