Are liquor stores essential? For every state but one the answer has been “Yes”. Liquor stores have remained open throughout social distancing and sales skyrocketed by 55% as people spend all their time bored and lonely at home. Some people are drinking more as they attend Zoom happy hours or play drinking games over Discord. But the increased sales in alcohol are not just due to fun games and virtual social gatherings. They are a sign of decreased mental health as people battle stress, anxiety, and grief during this global pandemic.
Alcohol use is not the cure people need. It is associated with many negative health outcomes including weakening immune systems, chronic health problems, and increased risk-taking, including domestic violence. Many of these problems are worse for women who drink – we are more likely to suffer chronic health conditions at lower levels of alcohol and experience the brunt of domestic violence. As Dr. Parker-Jones suggests, women might be more likely to increase their drinking right now due to the stress of COVID-19 since women are more likely to use alcohol to cope with anxiety and depression.
Despite the many harms related to alcohol, almost every state in the country has decided to keep liquor stores open. This isn’t just due to the normalization of alcohol drinking or pressure to keep the economy rolling. It’s also due to the very real danger that restricting access to alcohol has on people who are physically dependent on alcohol. If these people go cold turkey, then many will suffer seizures and even death. Many will turn to non-edible sources of alcohol like drinking hand sanitizer. These individuals would suffer greatly and would burden the already stretched thin health care system.
Deciding whether liquor stores are essential is not as simple of a question as it might seem. Keeping them open may lead to worse health outcomes, more domestic violence, and encourage drinking as a way to cope with anxiety. But closing them could lead to pain and even death for those who are addicted to alcohol.
Liquor stores are essential, but only because we don’t have a good system to handle addiction and mental health. We need programs like Canada’s MAPS which ensures that physically-dependent alcohol users have access to the minimum amount of alcohol they need. We also need more affordable mental health treatment so that people, especially women, can learn better ways to cope with depression and anxiety rather than turn to drinking. Keeping liquor stores open is a band-aid solution and shows how badly we need a comprehensive mental health care system.
I’m glad you brought up this aspect of liquor stores being considered “essential.” Most people I have heard reason why, either focus on the economy or joke about “of course alcohol is essential, what else would we do in isolation!?” Like you said, it could lead to many having to seek medical treatment for alcohol withdrawal at the hospitals already burdened with Covid-19 patients. I like your band-aid metaphor because like multiple other issues in today’s society, the root cause is mental health and the lack of an affordable and appropriate mental health care system. Such a system would prevent so much harm and medical costs! It’s ridiculous, with all the available evidence, that mental health services are still not prioritized. (Face palm)
This is an interesting reading. One can make argument for liquor store as essential or non-essential. Both poses its own merits and de-merits. But based on the tenets of American constitution on rights and the ulterior gains of states, we all can attest to the reasons why liquor stores were open throughout the pandemic. However, the Canadian MAPS system is novel and can help to reduce the burden of substance use disorder in the U.S. if adopted. Hence, preventing unplanned complications.