The COVID-19 pandemic brought lots of uncertainty, pushing many Americans to their limits. The stress, coupled with liquor stores being deemed essential business, fueled a rise in alcohol consumption but a full urine. It's leading to another trend. Sobriety. I knew that that was not going to be sustainable, to be drinking, you know, several nights a week just to sort of numb out the stress of what we were all dealing with the pandemic. Lori's pandemic story isn't unique. Her husband began working from home and her two kids started schooling remotely que the endless jokes about drinking just to make it through the day. I thought that I was having a drink at the end of the day to chill out because I have been stressed because of all of the, you know, the pandemic parenting duties that have been thrown upon us. But I was actually making it worse. Cutting out alcohol is a move welcomed by experts who are sounding the alarm over the rise and drinking and the harmful effects it can have on health, depression, anxiety. Um, a lot of as I happen societal ideation and even attempts under the influence. One study shows a 400% increase in severe alcohol dependence between April and September of 2020 with researchers pointing to stress as a key factor. Addiction specialists say it's not totally surprising, given that healthy coping mechanisms like meeting with a friend we're going to the gym became unavailable. For Lori, support groups like the sober mom Squad created during the pandemic Have been a big motivator. She also points to online sobriety communities like this naked mind, which saw 90,000 people joined its signature alcohol experiment since March of 2020. In May, we had a record alcohol experiments. That's a 30 day challenge. I run and we had more people in it than we've ever had outside of really January, which is always a record month. But experts emphasize that everyone is different. One coping skill is not going to be a panacea for everyone. So what works for me may not be the same thing that works for you. As millions of Americans get vaccinated, the pandemic induced restrictions are being lifted. But even as we get back to normal, the long term effects of binge drinking will still be there. We're going to have to help all those people who are now using and using more Bianca Foschini Nuzzi Washington
We really did buy more alcohol during the early pandemic, study finds
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Updated: 8:16 PM CST Dec 15, 2021
The great COVID-19 lockdown of March to June 2020 created more than a run on toilet paper, masks and hand sanitizers. A new analysis of alcohol sales in a sampling of American states has found panic buying of hard liquor and wine also spiked. Sales of beer, however, remained steady or slumped in most states.Related video above: Sober Support Groups Push Back On Pandemic Drinking Binge"Understanding how alcohol purchase behavior is changed by events such as COVID is important because heavy alcohol use is known to be associated with numerous social problems, especially within the home," said study coauthor Brian Quigley, a research assistant professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo in New York."Our findings suggest the need for a more comprehensive policy relating to alcohol availability, as to whether it should be considered an 'essential' product," said study coauthor Yingjie Hu, an assistant professor in the department of geography at the University at Buffalo."Hopefully this could help our society as a whole address problems related to excessive alcohol use during a public health crisis," Hu added.States differedThe study, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, examined monthly alcohol sales reported by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism from March to June 2020, comparing that data to the same months in 2018 and 2019. The research team also analyzed anonymous data from over 45 million digital devices, tracking visits to businesses where alcohol is sold.The study analyzed alcohol sales in 14 states in the United States for which the federal database had complete sales data: Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.Different states had different preferences in their top choices of alcohol, according to the data. Overall, beer sales declined in all states in the study except Kansas, Arkansas and Texas, as did visits to bars and pubs.However, visits to liquor stores increased. Sales of hard liquor, or spirits, rose nearly 11% on average in all states in the study between the months of March and June 2020 compared to prior years. Four states had substantial increases: In Texas, Kentucky, Virginia and Missouri, sales of liquor increased 20% to 40% during that time period.Sales of wine in the states in the study rose nearly 9% overall in March of last year, but Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia had a "sustained increase" through June, while Texas showed an increase in wine sales in April, May and June, the study found.Texas, Kentucky and Virginia had "sustained increases in their sales of both spirits and wine in March, April, May, and June, which can be alarming signals for problematic alcohol use," the study found.The spike was likely fueled, the authors said, by fears of contracting COVID-19, social isolation, job loss and an uncertain future at the time of the study.Dangers of alcohol useAn increase in alcohol use can have a significant impact on health. Long thought to be beneficial for the heart, studies now show that any heart benefit may be outweighed by other health risks associated with drinking, such as high blood pressure, pancreatitis, certain cancers and liver damage.Women who drink are at a higher risk for breast cancer. Alcohol contributes about 6% of the overall risk, possibly because it raises certain dangerous hormones in the blood. Drinking can also increase the chance you might develop bowel, liver, mouth and oral cancers.A 2016 study found that no amount of alcohol was beneficial for health. Alcohol was the leading risk factor for disease and premature death in men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 worldwide in 2016, accounting for nearly one in 10 deaths, according to the study.
The great COVID-19 lockdown of March to June 2020 created more than a run on toilet paper, masks and hand sanitizers. A new analysis of alcohol sales in a sampling of American states has found panic buying of hard liquor and wine also spiked. Sales of beer, however, remained steady or slumped in most states.
Related video above: Sober Support Groups Push Back On Pandemic Drinking Binge
"Understanding how alcohol purchase behavior is changed by events such as COVID is important because heavy alcohol use is known to be associated with numerous social problems, especially within the home," said study coauthor Brian Quigley, a research assistant professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo in New York.
"Our findings suggest the need for a more comprehensive policy relating to alcohol availability, as to whether it should be considered an 'essential' product," said study coauthor Yingjie Hu, an assistant professor in the department of geography at the University at Buffalo.
"Hopefully this could help our society as a whole address problems related to excessive alcohol use during a public health crisis," Hu added.
States differed
The study,, examined monthly alcohol sales reported by the from March to June 2020, comparing that data to the same months in 2018 and 2019. The research team also analyzed anonymous data from over 45 million digital devices, tracking visits to businesses where alcohol is sold.
The study analyzed alcohol sales in 14 states in the United States for which the federal database had complete sales data: Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Different states had different preferences in their top choices of alcohol, according to the data. Overall, beer sales declined in all states in the study except Kansas, Arkansas and Texas, as did visits to bars and pubs.
However, visits to liquor stores increased. Sales of hard liquor, or spirits, rose nearly 11% on average in all states in the study between the months of March and June 2020 compared to prior years. Four states had substantial increases: In Texas, Kentucky, Virginia and Missouri, sales of liquor increased 20% to 40% during that time period.
Sales of wine in the states in the study rose nearly 9% overall in March of last year, but Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia had a "sustained increase" through June, while Texas showed an increase in wine sales in April, May and June, the study found.
Texas, Kentucky and Virginia had "sustained increases in their sales of both spirits and wine in March, April, May, and June, which can be alarming signals for problematic alcohol use," the study found.
The spike was likely fueled, the authors said, by fears of contracting COVID-19, social isolation, job loss and an uncertain future at the time of the study.
Dangers of alcohol use
An increase in alcohol use can have a significant impact on health. Long thought to be beneficial for the heart, studies now show that any heart benefit may be outweighed by other health risks associated with drinking, such as , certain and .
Women who drink are at a higher risk for . Alcohol contributes about 6% of the overall risk, possibly because it raises certain dangerous hormones in the blood. Drinking can also increase the chance you might develop bowel, liver, mouth and .
A 2016 study found that no amount of alcohol was beneficial for health. Alcohol was the leading risk factor for disease and premature death in men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 worldwide in 2016, accounting for nearly one in 10 deaths, according to the study.
