December 14, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
Case Histories in Alcohol Policy, edited by Joel Streicker, profiles seven grassroots advocacy groups that have taken on projects to combat alcohol-related problems–such as violence, injuries, and high crime rates–in their communities. The organizations were chosen to reflect activism in rural, suburban, and urban settings by people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. For example, in Chicago, Salem Baptist Church is fighting to reduce the concentration of liquor stores in the predominantly black neighborhood of Roseland in which it is located. Native American, Hispanic, and white activists in rural McKinley County, N.M., an area plagued by high rates of alcoholism and drunk-driving fatalities, organized a 200-mile march to the state capital to draw attention to the problems alcohol was causing. The marchers demanded–and eventually won–the county’s right to raise liquor taxes to pay for treatment programs and prevention efforts. The book is available free online at http://www.tf.org/tf/alcohol/case.shtml.
Publisher: Trauma Foundation, San Francisco General Hospital, Building 1, Room 300, San Francisco, Calif. 94110; (415) 821-8209; fax (415) 282-2563; http://www.tf.org/tf/alcohol/ariv; 192 pages; free.
