Alcohol Review - Issue 47, February 4th 2022

This week: “Beer o'clock” later in lockdown; Alcohol harm wrongly ignored in “leveling up”; Call for WTO transparency; Welsh Rugby to bring in lower alcohol beer. Events next week. The BBC tells the story of the British Temperance movement

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"Beer o'clock" later in lockdown

Brits started drinking alcohol later on average during covid lockdown restrictions, according to new?research.

This seems to be true whether or not drinking in pubs and bars is included in the figures. Restrictions meant nearly all alcohol drinking moved to the home

The finding goes against the idea that more daytime drinking might have caused the UK’s 19% jump in alcohol-specific deaths in 2020.

The US saw a?rise?of 26% in alcohol-induced deaths the same year but this has attracted very little interest from media or academia.

Home delivery and lack of cues to stop are other possible factors. The dead were mostly heavier drinkers whose drinking escalated to lethal levels. ■

Alcohol harm wrongly ignored in "leveling up"

Tackling alcohol harm would be crucial to any “leveling up” of the UK, but the government white paper published this week wrongly ignored it, said Alison Giles of the Alcohol Health Alliance and interim head of the Institute of Alcohol Studies. ■

A call for WTO alcohol transparency

Over half of countries statements to the WTO made alcohol industry arguments, but only to one-in-thirty were said to be on behalf of the industry. ■

The pandemic and funding cuts led to a 23% fall in the number of under-18s in England getting help for alcohol and other drug problems

Teachers India's dry Bihar threaten to protest having been asked to work as informants in an alcohol crackdown

Welsh Rugby plans to introduce lower alcohol beer into the national stadium in an effort to curb disorder

Budweiser is introducing a 4% "zero-carb" beer in the US

Next week

The Politics of Alcohol, the influence of industry on public health, ACORN (UK, Ireland), Feb 10th

Networking in Addiction Medicine at a Global Level: The General Assembly of Addiction Medicine Societies and Associations,?ISAM (online), February 10th

Radio feature

Guests on BBC's In Our Time tell the story of the British Temperance movement, said to have started in 1832 in Preston

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??Sea Arch, alcohol-free spirit

Public interest mission:?Subscribe,?support, share