Alcohol Policy UK

Adopting “moderate drinking”: challenges and ways forward

In this guest post, Dr Samanthika Gallage, an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Nottingham University Business School discusses recent research exploring the experiences of young people seeking to moderate or abstain from alcohol use.

In public discourse, moderate drinking is commonly used to describe drinking behaviour that is not regarded as ‘excessive’ or ‘binging’. While the term itself has no clear definition, it is often considered synonymous with terms such as ‘responsible’ or ‘sensible drinking’.

Again, whilst not clearly defined or used in public health, the idea of ‘responsible drinking’ may be seen as drinking which is not harmful to oneself or others, or in some cases, as following the recommend drinking guidelines. However, some argue that it is precisely because of the unspecified nature of responsible drinking, and its emphasis on personal responsibility, that industry affiliated groups often favour such terms.

Commission on Alcohol Harm (2020) report calls for 'science-led' alcohol strategy

A new report from a recent Commission on Alcohol Harm undertaken by the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) has been released, calling for a new comprehensive alcohol strategy for England.

The Commission received over 140 written submissions of which around 40 were from people with direct lived experience of alcohol harm. Key themes presented include harm to others, society and individuals, and the need for a new strategy given that 'nothing has really changed' since the last national alcohol strategy published in 2012.

Latest consumption data MESAS 2020: MUP 'maintains lowest level' in Scotland

The Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy (MESAS) monitoring report 2020 provides the latest data on alcohol consumption and measures relating to Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP).

The figures shows in 2019, 9.9 litres (L) of pure alcohol were sold per adult in Scotland, equivalent to 19.1 units per adult per week. This figure is the same as in 2018, which marked a drop from 10.2 litres (L) in 2017 in the wake of the introduction of MUP.

Report highlights issues with underage online sales

A new report reveals a range of concerns relating to the sale of alcohol to under 18s online, making a number of recommendations to tighten their circumvention.

Download the report 'Effective age-gating for underage sales' here [pdf].

The report, released by Alcohol Change UK, finds current methods of age verification are largely ineffectual. When implemented online, they often involve simple 'honour’ checks, which are easily deceived, or alternative forms of authentication that can be bypassed in various ways. Implemented offline, by delivery drivers, etc., they are known to be ineffective in practice. A particular difficulty arises when alcohol is part of a larger online shopping cart, which can lead to it going unnoticed. The report therefore questions the appropriateness of online age-gating (AG) or age-verification (AV) processes.

MUP two year anniversary; IAS briefing & impact of families MESAS report

The 1st of the month marked two years since the introduction of Scotland's Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) after a long-running legal battle led by sections of the alcohol industry.

The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) released a briefing Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland: What we know so far about its effects on consumption and health harms [pdf]. The executive summary states "media reports have been mixed, with some claiming the policy has been a success and others claiming it has been a failure. This briefing attempts to summarise this evidence to draw conclusions about the impact of MUP based on what we know so far."

Alcohol & COVID-19 pt 2: PHE guidance, Alcohol Change UK survey, WHO factsheet & more

Following our first post on alcohol and COVID-19 related guidance, news and support, the below sets out key subsequent releases.

Alcohol Change UK have released findings from a survey of over 2,000 people on the effect of Coronavirus on consumption, as reported in the Guardian. More than one in three people said they had either stopped drinking or reduced how often they drink since the lockdown. Six per cent have stopped drinking entirely. Around one in five drinkers (21%) said they have been drinking more frequently since the lockdown.

Almost half of drinkers said they were drinking about the same amount on a typical drinking day, but 15% said they have been drinking more per session. However, falls seems to be driven by lower risk drinkers, whilst increases seem to be driven by those already drinking at risky or harmful levels. See here for a Twitter summary thread and separate findings from a YouGov survey here.

IAS Alert March 2020: Tax, regulation, lobbying & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: March 2020 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• COVER STORY – King’s Fund: Taxes and regulation on alcohol ‘highly effective’
• Busiest MPs up to three times more likely to be ‘risky’ drinkers
• Four every minute: Six Nations references to alcohol
• Ireland: Cross-border talk of a uniform MUP
• Irish ministers lobbied daily by industry
• Seven out of ten alcohol labels fail to display guidelines
• Budget 2020: Alcohol duty frozen, again
• Barnsley backs call for Minimum Unit Pricing in England
• Irish drank less in 2019
• Alcohol and public health in the time of a pandemic
• ALCOHOL SNAPSHOT – The effectiveness of duty increases in raising prices at the checkout varies widely between drink types

Health groups disappointed again as 2020 budget freezes duties

The 2020 spring budget has again left health groups dismayed by freezing all duties, which the IAS point out is the seventh year out of the last eight that alcohol duties failed to keep up with inflation.

Meanwhile, alcohol industry groups behind various campaigns to cut duties celebrated the news, claiming the move would help the industry in facing difficult times. However, industry campaign claims have been repeatedly questioned in several regards, notably the implication that tax rises on alcohol would lead to lower revenue, referred to as the Laffer curve. The Government's own analysis indicates the latest freeze in duties will come at a cost to the Treasury of just over £1bn to the year 2024–25.

New IAS report on duty and income ahead of 2020 budget

The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) has released a new report advocating a rise in alcohol duties as the 2020 spring Budget approaches. Health groups have been repeatedly disappointed by previous budgets which have generally seen real term cuts favouring industry group calls.

The latest report though aims to debunk the seemingly intuitive claim that higher alcohol taxes disproportionately hurt the poorest. However, the report argues it is poorer groups who would see greater health benefits as a result of lower drinking and by receiving a greater share of any increase in public spending derived from increased revenue. The analysis, which calculated the amount of alcohol duty that different households paid as a share of their income and total spending, finds taxes account for a similar share of the incomes and budgets of rich and poor households alike, and at worst are only mildly regressive.

Statistics on Alcohol England 2020: alcohol-related admissions continue to rise

The annual Statistics on Alcohol for England 2020 has been released, detailing national data for key alcohol-related indicators and health harms including the latest Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) data update.

On the key headline figures of hospital admissions, a continued rise in the broad measure brings annual alcohol-related admissions to a new peak of 1.26 million, 8% higher than the previous year. Increases in the rate have been observed every year for over a decade, first passing the million mark in 2010. Alcohol-related episodes now reflect 7.4% of all hospital admissions. See IAS Twittery summary here and Daily Mail story.