Introduction

Prevention, rather like mother love, is something that few people would doubt to be of positive value. The history of prevention in the field of alcohol is one of shifting foci concerning what is to be prevented and how preventive activity should be organised. In Britain an Act of 1552 first gave justices of the peace the power to issue and withdraw licences for the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages. In the nineteenth century there was a noticeable change of emphasis whereby alcohol-related problems were seen less as a consequence of the availability of alcohol and more in terms of the weakness of character of certain drinkers. In other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Finland, and Norway, the focus of concern became alcohol itself, rather than the individuals who used it or the conditions under which it was made available for consumption.