Lockdown drinks still causing pain

Quarantinis weren’t all fun and games, with our community still grappling with the after-effects, writes Catherine Palmer

AS we emerge from COVID19 restrictions, and as we return to some degree of social normality, it is timely to reflect on how to reconcile the pleasure of drinking with the problem of drinking.

Alcohol plays a role in sociality and celebrations: births, weddings, deaths and other life occasions are celebrated or remembered through the consumption of alcohol.

At the same time, drinking alcohol, particularly drinking to excess, remains a key concern for our health professionals and law enforcement agencies.

National statistics suggest that alcohol-related harms are having damaging effects across Australia and that alcohol abuse costs Australian taxpayers $16.3 billion each year from crime and violence, medical treatment, loss of productivity, and death.

COVID-19 has exacerbated both the pleasurable, social aspects of drinking and its harmful impacts.

At the height of lockdown in Tasmania, after-work drinks were held over Zoom, “quarantini” morphed from describing a drink made from gin and Berocca to referring to happy hour in lockdown, where any alcohol would do. Even celebrities got in on the act. A quick search of YouTube will take you to Meryl Streep mixing cocktails in her dressing gown.

While these seem to be lighthearted responses to the unfolding events of 2020, they conceal more insidious behaviours and practices.

A national survey conducted by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation found that one in five of us drank more in lockdown, with heavier drinkers more likely to have increased the regularity and quantity of their intake through lockdown.

Yet, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. The bottle shop was considered an essential service in Tasmania, customers rushed to stockpile their favourite drop, cheap cask wine made a comeback, and major liquor store chains continue to promise “store to door delivery in under an hour” in Hobart.

In the United Kingdom, one of the first businesses to open following their six-week lockdown was the pub, with doors opening for first drinks at 6am.

The pandemic introduced new ways to purchase alcohol, and the new isolation introduced new ways of drinking more, and more often.

The ready accessibility of home delivery, and the ability to consume alcohol at home without monitoring presented challenges for us all, but especially for our health professionals and law enforcement agencies in managing alcohol in our communities.

While we joked about our drinking in lockdown, tweets and memes about “what time does day time drinking start? … asking for a friend” conceal the true extent of the potential impacts of drinking in lockdown. A television commercial from the

Alcohol and Drug Foundation, titled “You haven’t been drinking alone”, riffs off the Zoom drinks concept using children who parrot the expressions and phrases they have overhead from adults in quarantini. The message is to be mindful of your drinking when younger eyes and ears can see and hear.

COVID-19 has also introduced new concerns for alcohol misuse, especially for vulnerable communities in Tasmania.

Research from the UK suggests that harms associated with COVID-19 alcohol use are particularly acute in communities of social and material disadvantage and among “change resistant drinkers”.

This provides some early warnings for the law enforcement and public health challenges we too may face should Tasmania go into a further lockdown. Among change resistant drinkers, those with a reliance on health and social services, who drink heavily while also facing a number of other challenges; ill-health, homelessness, and who resist care, are particularly vulnerable to the trials of COVID-19.

They may be vulnerable to exploitation if they have to rely on others to access alcohol. Older people and women who already bore the brunt of isolation the first time round are at risk too.

As we navigate these continuing challenging circumstances, our collective response needs to be one that acknowledges the pleasure and pain of drinking.

QUARANTINI MORPHED FROM DESCRIBING A DRINK MADE FROM GIN AND BEROCCA TO REFERRING TO HAPPY HOUR IN LOCKDOWN, WHERE ANY ALCOHOL WOULD DO. EVEN CELEBRITIES GOT IN ON THE ACT