Two hands, holding beer bottles, clicking their bottles. There is a sunset in the background.

We’ve been drinking a lot more alcohol during COVID, study finds

A new University of Victoria study found that British Columbians consumed more alcohol during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than they have at any other point during the past 20 years. 

Dr. Tim Naimi, Director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research – submitted photo

The adult population drank the equivalent to 547 cans of beer or 104 bottles of wine per person, in one year

The heaviest drinkers were in the Interior, but the second highest levels of consumption were on Vancouver Island.

“The story is partly COVID, but it’s not just COVID. There’s been a spike. On top of what I like to say is a steady hill  of increases in consumption, dating back to about the year 2000  and particularly since about 2010.  Since then, we’ve seen a 10% increase on average, per capita consumption,” said Dr. Tim Naimi, Director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).

The health areas with the most per capita alcohol consumption are, in order: the Interior, Vancouver Island, Northern BC, Vancouver Coastal and the Fraser Valley

“If we look at British Columbia generally compared to the rest of  Canada, We have a higher alcohol consumption than the rest of Canada,  somewhere, about 20% higher. A lot of people have said, well, that’s just because  a lot of tourists come to BC and then they drink alcohol and that’s recorded as sales in the province, even though not all of it is being consumed by people who actually live in the province.

“Why this trend is important is that there was less tourism during this year ending in March of 2021. So maybe this is actually a more accurate reflection of what the province actually consumes.” 

Naimi said that, as a result of COVID restrictions, 80% of alcohol purchases are made at take-out outlets like liquor stores.

Cortes Currents checked with two outlets on Cortes Island, to see if they are selling more liquor. 

Curt Cunningham, owner/manager of the Squirrel Cove General Store said his liquor sales were up 35% in 2021. 

There is both a restaurant and a general store at the Gorge Harbour Marina Resort. If they follow the pattern seen in Dr Naimi’s study, liquor sales at the Floathouse Restaurant were probably down, but those at the store were up.

The manager, Bill Dougan, explained, “We saw a jump in liquor sales 20%  for the last year but it has tapered off. Our liquor sales are still up from last year but barely. I would attribute the slight increase to more customers and guests.” 

“COVID gave us a permanent bump in sales,  in the off season and during peak times. There are more people on island again this winter and there are more than 20 people living on the property.”

Cortes Currents asked Dr Naimi if the increase in liquor consumption could be because people are more isolated? They can’t do a lot of things that used to be part of their normal lives. Are some people drinking more because they are bored?

“ I think that’s a factor, but I also think there are other factors at play,” said Naimi.

He pointed to the modernization of BC’s Liquor policy which started in 2013/14:

“We’ve had big changes in policies around home deliveries, pick up from restaurants, and take away from restaurants. Never in the history of British Columbia have British Colombians been able to access alcohol from so many places in so many different ways at so many hours of the day and night.”

BC ‘leads’ Canada in alcohol consumption.

Few of these changes are observable on Cortes, but there are more people on the island since the pandemic began.

A lot more residents are shopping locally instead of heading off to the big stores in Campbell River, elsewhere on Vancouver Island or even the Lower Mainland. 

Naimi agreed that if there is no up to date census data, Cortes could be seeing an artificial bump in its perceived consumption records. 

“That’s why I always tell people, take the local data with a grain of salt because there’s influxes and fluxes of people and travelers, and even home production that may differ in these different areas. This report, which we do on an annual basis, is measuring the per capita alcohol consumption and all that means,” he said.

“Most people who drink aren’t heavy drinkers, but 15 or 20% of the drinkers consume most of the alcohol. So the bottom line is it’s very well established that this measure of average consumption is a very reliable guide of how much heavy drinking is going on in the population and, and harms that will be coming down the pike.”

Tanya Henck from the Cortes Island Womens Resource Centre recently told Cortes Currents, “There has been an increase in domestic violence.”

Dr Naimi explained, ”Alcohol, and domestic violence go hand in glove. People who are living in households are more isolated to their household and are spending perhaps more time with partners and kids and so forth. So leading to more opportunity, if you will, for domestic violence.”

He used a driving analogy to describe the current situation, “We’ve seen the government kind of unbuckle the seatbelts and take down the guard rails when it comes to alcohol. I think it’s time to reverse that.”

Top photo credit: Drinking at sunset Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash

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