Changes in Norwegian public opinion on alcohol policy, 2005-2012

Abstract

Aims During the last two decades there has been a substantial liberalisation of Norwegian alcohol policy in terms of increased availability of alcohol. We have studied what happens with public support for alcohol control policies in a country where the policy is liberalised. First, we summarise the findings from previous Norwegian studies on changes in attitudes toward alcohol control policies. Second, we present new empirical analyses on changes in attitudes toward a broad spectre of policies in 2005–2012, and whether the pattern of change varied according to gender, age, education and alcohol use. Design The empirical analyses were based on self-reported attitudes toward Norwegian alcohol policies from nine web surveys conducted among 20–69-year-old Norwegians (N = 12 304). Results The analyses showed increased support for a wide range of restrictive alcohol policy measures from 2005 to 2012 – both for measures that had been liberalised and those that had been stable. We found no substantial moderation by gender, age, educational level and drinking frequency, which indicates that the pattern of change was similar for various sub-groups based on such variables. Conclusions Previous research has observed a shift toward increasing support for a restrictive alcohol policy around the millennium. Current data shows that this trend has continued until 2012. We discuss the relationship between alcohol policy and public opinion, and propose that the trend may be connected to changes in value orientations, increased experience with alcohol-related harm and changes in beliefs about the harm-limiting effect of restrictive measures.