Alcohol Alert – September 2020

Hello and welcome to the Alcohol Alert, brought to you by The Institute of Alcohol Studies.

In this edition:

* A round-up of how alcohol drinkers, producers and retailers have fared as the prospect of a second coronavirus wave looms

* Think tank finds NoLo drinks have limited impact 🎵 Podcast feature 🎵

* SHAAP and IAS launch the Men and Alcohol report

* Numbers of alcohol-related admissions to English hospitals continue to rise

* Poll shows almost half of Scots surveyed now back minimum pricing for alcohol

* Backlash over NICE plans to record pregnant womens’ consumption

* We announce the winners of our Small Grants Scheme

We hope you enjoy our roundup of stories below: please feel free to share. Thank you.

Drinking in the second wave of a pandemic

Coping with COVID-19: Alcohol offers little comfort to solitary drinkers

One of the enduring stories of 2020 has been the question of how some people use alcohol to cope with new ways of living in the time of COVID-19. One of the many research attempts to find this out, the Global Drug Survey (GDS), found that almost half (48%) of Brits have so far upped their alcohol intake during the pandemic, ‘due to loneliness, depression and anxiety’ (Guardian, 09 Sep).

Furthermore, 30% of drinkers said increased alcohol consumption had worsened their mental health and 47% disclosed that their physical health had deteriorated.

Researchers found that increased use of both alcohol and cannabis due to anxiety, loneliness or depression was significantly higher among people with a pre-existing mental health or neurodevelopmental condition. That group of respondents were at least twice as likely to report worse mental health (38%) due to drinking more alcohol than those without such conditions (19%).

The study also highlighted the limitations of a substance perceived as having some social purpose: when the venue for consuming alcohol is removed from people’s lives, drinking for some doesn’t simply stop, but instead manifests in other potentially unhealthy ways. The number of people drinking alone at home while on audio or video calls, such as Zoom meetings, or during ‘watch parties’, where friends view and discuss films and TV programmes together via group chat, increased from 17% to 38%.

Comparing alcohol with cannabis, professor Adam Winstock, GDS chief executive, observed: ‘People’s drug use is hugely dependent upon being able to socialise and when that ability goes away, people turn to drugs that they’re already familiar with – cannabis and alcohol. But the impact of increases of those two drugs is quite distinct, and those drinking more alcohol come off worse.’

Closing time for COVID? Pubs on curfew

Some spending data indicated the desire on the part of some to resume pre-pandemic habits, but the results were mixed, ‘with like-for-like [August] sales down 3·6%’ against the same month last year (This is Money, 28 Sep).

Signs of economic recovery were likely the focus of discussions between Hospitality Ulster and Stormont ministers about the prospect of reopening drink-only pubs (BBC News Northern Ireland, 07 Sep).

But with an uptick in the number of coronavirus cases in September, attention turned to whether and how pubs – the symbol of a nation trying to return to some kind of normal – were keeping customers safe (BBC News Business, 13 Sep)?

In England, hospitality businesses (including pubs) became legally mandated to take customers’ contact details so they can be traced if a potential outbreak is linked to the venue. These rules were in addition to the new ‘Rule of Six’, which limits the number of people allowed to meet each other.

Some pubs experienced small outbreaks within their own workforce: the JD Wetherspoon chain reported 60 Wetherspoon staff across 50 branches had tested positive for COVID-19 (Mirror, 14 Sep).

Meanwhile, rumours spread of the possibility of implementing curfews on pub opening hours if the number of new coronavirus cases did not fall over the next few weeks (Daily Star, 14 Sep). A survey of more than 4,000 UK adults found that 69% would be favour of a 9PM curfew (YouGov, 15 Sep).

And so, the government made plans to shut the pubs… at 10PM (BBC News, 22 Sep). While BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle wondered whether the move would be of marginal benefit in staving off the threat of the virus, chair of the Public Accounts Committee Meg Hillier asked the prime minister how the government was able to square their proposal with extending alcohol licensing provisions for pubs to acquire pavement licences for eating and drinking on the public highway?

For all the government’s desire to strike a balance, representatives of the hospitality industry still claim that a curfew will neither help curb the virus nor the commercial viability of their businesses, which are ‘still on life support’. Talking to trade outlet Morning Advertiser (22 Sep), Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny called pubs ‘the home of responsible socialising’ and said his company had worked hard to implement safety measures across its pubs, to be rewarded with unnecessary restrictions, while Peter Borg-Neal, chief executive at multiple operator Oakman Inns, said he saw little public health benefit but ‘lots of economic damage’ instead.

Can addiction treatment services survive a second wave?

Whatever happens in the coming weeks, it is clear that our addiction services can ill afford to combat the swelling number of high risk drinkers seeking treatment alongside a second wave of COVID-19 cases. Royal College of Psychiatrists analysis of Public Health England’s latest data on the indirect effects of COVID-19 found that over 8·4 million people are now drinking at higher risk, up from just 4·8 million in February. But the multi-million-pound cuts made to addiction services since 2013/14 mean they could miss out on life-saving treatment (14 Sep).

Professor Julia Sinclair, chair of the college’s addictions faculty, said: ‘COVID-19 has shown just how stretched, under-resourced and ill-equipped addiction services are to treat the growing numbers of vulnerable people living with this complex illness.Drug-related deaths and alcohol-related hospital admissions were already at all-time highs before COVID-19. I fear that unless the government acts quickly we will see these numbers rise exponentially.’

Think tank: NoLo drinks have limited impact

🎵 Podcast feature 🎵

A report on no and low alcohol beverages (‘NoLo’) from the Social Market Foundation finds limited evidence for their impact on health outcomes (08 Sep). Sponsored by Alcohol Change UK (ACUK), the publication finds that whilst NoLo products may help individuals reduce their consumption, they are unlikely to produce the aggregate level reductions in alcohol-related harms public health experts would desire.

The key findings were:

* The market for NoLo drinks – whilst brands continue to release new products into the NoLo drinks category – worth around £110 million in 2018/19 – it is thought NoLo products comprised just 0·2% of the total market for alcoholic drinks in that year. The report estimates that annual sales growth of NoLo drinks would have to exceed over 40% per annum for market share to stand above 10% by 2030

* Consumers in the NoLo market – survey results commissioned specially for this study found that one in five people (21%) have consumed an alcohol-free beer, cider, wine or spirit in the last year. Including low-strength drinks (up to 1·2% alcohol content), this rises to 27%. Young people and those in higher income socioeconomic groups were more likely to have tried a NoLo product

* The regulation of the NoLo market – Guidance and ABV descriptors issued by the Department of Health and Social Care contains elements of ambiguity and are often out of step with other European countries

* The presentation of NoLo products – press coverage of NoLo drinks typically centres on the ‘new sensibility’ of younger people and NoLo as a ‘community’ or ‘movement’. Some producers have tapped into this by promoting their NoLo products as substitutes for stronger products. Others prefer to market them as additional to existing drinks on the market

* The impact on alcohol-related harms – survey results for this report indicate that among those that