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Social availability

Social availability refers to the procurement of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs through “social” sources outside of retail markets, including family, friends, and other acquaintances. Unlike retail availability, social availability does not rely on the exchange of money or goods for the product and is not regulated at the state or local level. Therefore, interventions that are effective in the retail market may not be effective in social markets. Some examples of environmental prevention strategies that aim to restrict social availability include alcohol restrictions at community events, alternative events for youth, texting tip lines, and responsible event assessment. Because social availability of a substance occurs outside regulated markets, it is much more difficult to measure the amount of product available and the extent to which it is reaching the consumer. Most of the research on social availability remains in the early stages of investigation and relies on self-reported data.

Effectiveness	Name	Area & Goal	Target Substance	Click to View Strategy
Effective	Use of Mass Media Appropriately	Causal Areas: Social availability Tobacco Goals: Prevent youth initiation	Alcohol Other Drugs Tobacco	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Texting Tipline	Causal Areas: Social availability	Alcohol Other Drugs	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Teen Party Ordinances	Causal Areas: Enforcement, Social availability	Alcohol Other Drugs	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Social Host Liability	Causal Areas: Enforcement, Social availability Tobacco Goals: Prevent youth initiation	Alcohol Other Drugs Tobacco	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Responsible Event Assessment	Causal Areas: Social availability	Alcohol	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs	Causal Areas: Enforcement, Social availability	Other Drugs	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Naloxone Education and Distribution Programs	Causal Areas: Social availability	Other Drugs	View
Not Effective	General Information Dissemination	Causal Areas: Promotion & media, Social availability Tobacco Goals: Prevent youth initiation	Alcohol Other Drugs Tobacco	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Designated Driver Promotion Programs	Causal Areas: Community Norms, Promotion & media, Social availability	Alcohol	View
Not Effective	Curfew Ordinance Programs	Causal Areas: Enforcement, Social availability Tobacco Goals: Prevent youth initiation	Alcohol Other Drugs Tobacco	View
Not Effective	Beer Keg Registration	Causal Areas: Enforcement, Retail availability, Social availability	Alcohol	View
Varied Evidence of Effectiveness	Alternative Events for Youth	Causal Areas: Social availability Tobacco Goals: Prevent youth initiation	Alcohol Other Drugs Tobacco	View

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