An alcohol harm campaign group is calling for the hours booze can be bought on aggregator apps and rapid supermarket services to be restricted, with a lag period enforced on large orders.
A survey by Alcohol Change UK found one in five adults in the UK are using rapid delivery services to order alcohol at least once a week. Some 13% of adults reported ordering alcohol while already drunk.
“Rapid alcohol deliveries are causing harm across our society,” said Dr Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK.
“This is not a niche problem. Rapid delivery has quickly become a part of daily life in the UK and a significant driver of dangerous alcohol consumption. Too many are falling prey to round-the-clock access through these services. Convenience has a cost – rising harm to the nation’s health and wellbeing, hampering efforts to drink less or stop drinking alcohol, and destroying the peace of mind of loved ones,” Piper added.
The charity is also urging government to introduce policies that will make it easier for individuals, and their family members, to ‘block’ their own access to ordering alcohol on delivery services like apps and supermarket accounts. “Just like existing gambling blocks, these need to be robust and not easy to overturn,” it said.
It is pushing for the introduction of a “generous pause” between ordering and delivery of alcohol when the order is over a certain amount, as well as for alcohol delivery hours to be restricted to between 10am and 10pm.
While rapid delivery couriers are required to carry out intoxication and age verification checks when delivering alcohol, more measures should be introduced to ensure this happens “100% of the time”, the campaign group said.
“We are not for a ban of rapid alcohol deliveries, but as these figures suggest the government must now look at introducing sensible measures that prevent harm and protect all of us from falling into a harmful pattern with deliveries that’s hard to break free from,” Piper said.
The group has launched a campaign – ‘End the delivery trap’ – and set up a website for people to easily email their MP to support it.
The campaign is being backed by Alex Hughes, who lost her sister Zoe to a battle with alcohol dependence, before later uncovering that Zoe was spending £1,500 per month on alcohol via delivery apps leading up to her death.
Alcohol Change UK’s survey found usage of rapid delivery services for alcohol was “concentrated among those already at risk of experiencing serious alcohol harm”. More than four in 10 people already exceed recommended guidelines of 14 units per week using rapid delivery weekly, compared with fewer than two in 10 lower-risk drinkers.
“Zoe didn’t have to leave the house, get ready for the day or see and interact with anyone, and became more and more isolated as time went on,” said Hughes. “We were devastated to discover how much alcohol she was getting delivered in the months leading up to her death, and there were occasions when she was clearly already intoxicated and unwell, but alcohol was just left at her door.
“Having alcohol available 24/7 at the tap of a button played a huge role in my sister Zoe’s fast decline before we lost her, despite her attempts and our efforts to get her the support she needed. Compared to shops or pubs, the safeguards and measures in place with deliveries are much weaker,” he added.
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