Previous investigators have looked at many types of criminal offenses in order to determine alcohol involvement in crime. This longitudinal (4-year) naturalistic experimental and control designed study examined the effects of change in alcohol availability on rates of offending in a small provincial region of New Zealand following the closure of the sole hotel in each of two rural towns. Criminal offenses in the two experimental towns and the four control towns were compared across two levels: "serious" offenses (homicide; rape) or "other" offenses (property and traffic offenses). Results were consistent with previous interruption in supply-alcohol availability theory, as both antisocial (drink related) and drunk driving offenses decreased in experimental towns and increased relative to national offense trends in control towns. A causal relation between alcohol and crime was proven in this study as crime decreased significantly for 2 years in areas of reduced alcohol availability. Contains 60 references, 2 tables, and 4 figures. (JBJ)