Accessibility of ‘essential’ alcohol in the time of COVID-19: casting light on the blind spots of licensing?

REYNOLDS, Joanna and CLAIRE, Wilkinson (2020). Accessibility of ‘essential’ alcohol in the time of COVID-19: casting light on the blind spots of licensing? Drug and Alcohol Review.

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Official URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/d...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13076

Abstract

Among the Australian and UK governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the designation of outlets selling alcohol for off-premise consumption as ‘essential’ services, allowing them to remain open while pubs, hotels and restaurants have been forced to close. In a context of restrictions on movement outside the home in both countries, and where alcohol providers are trying to find new ways to reach their customers, this may lead to an intensification of the social and health harms associated with home drinking. By examining the current situation in both Australia and the UK, we argue that heightened risks from home drinking amid COVID-19 bring into sharp focus long-standing weaknesses within licensing systems in both countries: the regulation of offpremise outlets to minimise harms from drinking at home. We call for critical conversations on how licensing systems should be revised to take more responsibility for protecting people from the health and social harms associated with home drinking, both under COVID-19 and in the future.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is a version, not in its published format, of an article accepted for publication in Drug and Alcohol Review. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Uncontrolled Keywords: 11 Medical and Health Sciences; 16 Studies in Human Society; 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences; Substance Abuse
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13076
SWORD Depositor: Symplectic Elements
Depositing User: Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited: 08 Apr 2020 11:56
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 01:52
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26123

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