The Policy Panel developed a policy-based agenda to guide prevention organizations, youth groups and the community-at-large in a coordinated effort to prevent binge and underage drinking by addressing the environmental factors that were promoting and maintaining these behaviors. The Policy Panel produced an introductory report with recommendations for addressing the root causes of binge and underage drinking.

Robert Ross, then the director of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and a key member of the original Policy Panel, recognized the value of the recommendations and the Policy Panel’s potential for community-level change. A formal endorsement of the recommendations by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors led to the formation of the San Diego County Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative. Soon after, the San Diego County Department of Alcohol and Drug Services formally funded the Initiative.

Today, the Policy Panel has formed a group of Sector Leaders and this group serves as the leadership arm of the San Diego County Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative. The Sector Leaders identify priorities, set goals and guide the implementation of the Initiative. In addition, the Policy Panel has a General Assembly which meets quarterly. Seventy-five to 100 community members, law enforcement officials and agency representatives attend these meetings to stay informed about Policy Panel efforts and the activities of the Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative. Both the Policy Panel Sector Leaders and members of the General Assembly are actively engaged in advocating for change through environmental prevention strategies including media advocacy, policy development, community organizing, working with enforcement officials, and applied data collection and research.

The Policy Panel Sector Leaders are kept informed by a group of locally and nationally recognized expert advisors and is facilitated by the Institute for Public Strategies, a non-profit organization that specializes in policy-based environmental prevention strategies.

Accomplishments
Alcohol Availability

• All 90 San Diego County parks now restrict hard alcohol.
• City parks and beaches have adopted several policies regarding safe alcohol consumption.
• All but one San Diego County beach is now alcohol-free.
• Successfully advocated to block legislation that would have lowered alcohol taxes to a 1951 level.
• Partnered with the San Diego Unified School District and others to advocate for a California State Board of Equalization vote to reclassify alcopops as distilled spirits and change the taxation from 20 cents per gallon to $3.30 per gallon.
• Created a draft model RBSS ordinance which has been adopted in Poway, National City, San Marcos, Solana Beach and Vista, all yielding decreases in Place of Last Drink Survey data.
• The Social Access Workgroup developed and passed Social Host Ordinances in all of San Diego County's 18 cities, as well as Social Host Ordinance in all unincorporated areas of the county.
• Empowered local communities to utilize local zoning and land use ordinances to restrict problem alcohol outlets in their communities.
• In 2006 the AOP Workgroup protested 4 alcohol license applications that led to denial or withdrawal of the license requests.

• The San Diego County Law Enforcement Task Force on Alcohol and DUI was established in 1999 to engage all San Diego County law enforcement agencies in conducting high-visibility, multi-jurisdictional operations to reduce underage and binge drinking.
• The LETF has conducted hundreds of DUI patrols and checkpoints, party dispersals, and shoulder tap and minor decoy operations resulting in thousands of citations. These efforts have been highly publicized through the strategic use of news media to increase the deterrent effects of enforcement efforts.
• Advocated for the reinstatement of ABC departmental funding to ensure effective enforcement of alcohol laws and regulations.

• Led a successful effort to enact a billboard ordinance in the City of San Diego that restricts the outdoor promotion of alcohol products near youth-frequented areas. Several similar ordinances were adopted in cities across the County.
• Engaged youth as leaders in creating and implementing six counter-advertising campaigns, raising the awareness of millions of people about predatory alcohol marketing practices and the risks associated with underage drinking.
• Supported dozens of “hands off holidays" events and campaigns, including Cinco de Mayo con Orgullo, to stop the alcohol industry from exploiting children’s holidays and cultural groups.
• Successfully advocated for the CSUSM and USD newspapers to refuse alcohol advertising in their campus newspapers.