Pilot project will see LCBO Express outlets in 10 Ontario grocery stores

As we welcome in the New Year, the Ontario government has released further plans to expand alcohol availability in the province of Ontario.  In addition to an expansion of 70 new retail outlets throughout the province, the LCBO will be launching VQA Destination Boutiques inside selected full-size LCBO stores, as well as LCBO Express stores.  Unlike the VQA boutiques, the LCBO Express stores will be situated in large grocery stores and will carry a wide range of products, enabling the LCBO to “meet consumer demand for convenience”.  This latest announcement is part of the government’s plan to “modernize” alcohol laws in Ontario.  It’s hard not to wonder whether this was really part of the plan, or whether this is more of a political move to counter Tim Hudak’s promises and the Ontario Convenience Store Association’s push to sell beer and wine in corner stores? 

In their news release, the additional revenue from the LCBO store expansions and the new store formats promise to “contribute to eliminating the deficit and protect key priorities, such as health care and education”.  How will increasing alcohol availability and consumption protect health care?  According to the World Health Organization alcohol is responsible for the highest rate of disease and death in Canada next to tobacco.[1]  It contributes to dozens of illnesses and injuries. Yes, the LCBO makes a lot of money for the province ($1.63 billion in 2011-12), but alcohol-related costs which include health care are significant.   In a comparison of direct alcohol-related revenue and costs in Ontario in 2002-2003, the government deficit totaled more than $456 million.[2]

Limiting the availability of alcohol is essential to controlling overall consumption and related harm.  Several decades of research have proven this.[3]  Expanding alcohol availability has potential short and long term impacts and must be considered carefully.  Not simply based on convenience. There is a definite disconnect between the profitability of alcohol and the impact on health.  Our leaders need to be embracing and supporting population level policies that effectively balance alcohol revenue with the health and social costs that come with consumption.  Instead, in the spirit of modernization, the government of Ontario continues to weaken the alcohol control policies we already have in place.

In times of increasing health care costs and cuts to services, these changes should be of concern to everyone.  Is the desire for convenience really worth it?

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[1] Rehm J, Mathers C, Popova S, et al. Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. The Lancet. 2009 June; 373: 2223-33.

[2] Thomas G. The Economics of Alcohol Control Policy in Canada.  Alcohol Policy Network webinar; 2010 Sept.  Available from: http://www.apolnet.ca/resources/education/teleconferences.html#economics

[3] Babor T, Caetano R, Casswell S, Edwards G, Giesbrecht N, Grube J, et al. Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity - Research and Public Policy 2nd edition.  Oxford New York: Oxford University Press; 2010.  Summary available at: http://www.ndphs.org///documents/2253/Babor_alc%20no%20ordinary%20comm%20second%20edition.pdf

 

Drinking and the Holidays

Alcohol is a big part of many social gatherings over the holidays. Keeping track of how much you are drinking can sometimes be tricky especially if:

·       you don’t normally measure your drinks,
·       you enjoy mixed drinks, or
·       you choose beverages that come in larger size containers. 

When it comes to alcohol content, all drinks are not created equal.

So how much is “one drink”?  KFL&A Public Health now has a supply of magnets like these, depicting standard drink sizes.  Email us here to order.  Another useful tool is the Home Bartending Challenge created by the LCBO.  Try your hand at pouring standard drinks in different sized glasses.  Not as easy as it looks!

Finally, if you or someone you know is concerned about their drinking, or if you simply want to know how your drinking compares to others, Check Your Drinking and find out.

This will be the last blog post before the holidays. Posts will begin again in the New Year.  All the best for a healthy 2013! 

It Starts Here Alcohol Report Now Available

We are pleased to announce that the It Starts Here report is now available for download here.  Hard copies will be available soon for distribution.  Please contact cathy.edwards@kflapublichealth.ca for a copy.

Stay connected and find us on Facebook and Twitter.  

The cost of a drink – alcohol pricing policies and public health

When discussing the issue of alcohol pricing, many people feel that “alcohol costs enough” especially in comparison to other areas in Canada and the U.S. The reality is that policies which impact the price of alcohol are among the most powerful interventions for reducing consumption and related harm.  When prices are lowered, people drink more.  When prices rise, people decrease their consumption.  Not only should alcohol prices be indexed to inflation, setting minimum prices on alcohol based on alcohol content would provide an incentive for consumers to purchase lower alcohol products, particularly consumers such as young adults, who are price sensitive.

 

52% of Kingston respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the price of alcohol should be based on its alcohol content. (Public Opinion Survey of Alcohol Use in Kingston, 2012)

 
While Ontario scores well as far as indexing prices to inflation and mandating minimum retail prices for different categories of alcohol, Saskatchewan has been one of the first jurisdictions to implement minimum pricing linked to the amount of pure alcohol in each product.  Here’s what they found:

• By increasing the price of high alcohol content products, Saskatchewan saw a 12.6% decline in the sale of these products and a corresponding decrease in police calls for public intoxication.
• In addition to a decline in alcohol consumption of 135,000 litres of absolute alcohol, Saskatchewan saw a revenue increase of $9.4 million in the year following the price changes.

A new research series on Alcohol Price Policy in Canada has just been released by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.  The author, Dr. Gerald Thomas concedes that polices such as this are unpopular and are often perceived as “punishing the many for the sins of the few”.  However, he goes on to say that policies such as these (both population level and targeted policies) are needed to effectively reduce all types of alcohol-related harm in Canadian communities.

On December 10^th in Toronto a number of researchers from Ontario, BC and the UK will be speaking at a public seminar in Toronto entitled “Alcohol pricing and public health in Canada: Saving lives while raising government revenues?” This event is sponsored by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Centre for Addictions Research of BC and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

Fun-filled family event dampened by alcohol’s second hand effects

This past weekend Kingston held its annual Santa Claus Parade where 25,000 people from our community turned out to welcome in the holiday season.  Unfortunately, rather than hearing about the great turnout, and a community coming together, we have mostly heard about the 24 year old intoxicated man who was telling the crowds that there is no Santa.   This is a perfect example of alcohol’s second hand effects or “the impacts of alcohol to those other than the person doing the drinking”[1].   While we can’t be sure that this man only did this because he was intoxicated, alcohol likely at least contributed to the situation. 

Some are dismayed that anyone would do that, while others are dismayed at the fact that someone could be arrested for simply speaking freely to a crowd.  However, as the Kingston Police clarified in an interview with The National Post, “he was charged with two criminal counts — causing a disturbance by being drunk, which is a more minor criminal charge, and then we charged him with a breach of probation since he was on probation at the time. He was also charged with public intoxication.”[2]

Incidents such as these involving alcohol, contribute to a decrease in community well being.  What other second hand effects of alcohol have you noticed in our community?  Join the conversation on our Facebook page.  Let’s work together to ensure alcohol is only a part of our good times.

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[1] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02884.x/pdf

[2] http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/20/why-we-arrested-a-man-for-telling-kids-santa-wasnt-real-police-on-the-kingston-grinch/