Impact of Alcohol Home Delivery on Access, Consumption, and Exposure to Marketing

Graduate School Of Public Health And Health Policy, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Alcohol consumption has been increasing for the last two decades across the population and rates are rising considerably among women, Black individuals, and those over age 50. Alcohol related deaths are the third leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. Despite these trends, during the COVID-19 pandemic onset (i.e., March 2020) many states relaxed alcohol sales policies. Specifically, many states began to allow alcohol for home delivery, including packages of beer, wine, and spirits, sometimes delivered by third-party entities (e.g., Door Dash). Limiting alcohol availability is an evidence-based strategy for reducing alcohol-related harms; home delivery alcohol expansions may seriously exacerbate alcohol related harms across the lifespan. The rapid growth of online ordering and home delivery of alcohol is posited to increase alcohol risk in three ways. First, alcohol regulatory agencies may not have the resources to monitor and enforce age related policies in delivery to private homes. Second, online ordering may increase the likelihood of receiving digital advertisements for alcohol. Third, the convenience and anonymity of home delivery may contribute to riskier alcohol consumption patterns. We propose three integrated aims aligned with these risks. (1) Assess alcohol home delivery risks and regulatory non-compliance, by engaging 300 young adults (ages 21-26) from 6 states to document what happens and whether their ID was checked during a home delivery. (2) Describe how purchasing alcohol by home delivery may increase receipt of digital alcohol advertising by asking the young adult volunteers from Aim1 to report how much alcohol advertising they see prior and after purchasing alcohol for home delivery. (3) Describe how purchasing alcohol by home delivery may be associated with increased risk of alcohol consumption, by conducting longitudinal surveys among 1430 adults from population-based survey panels in the same six states to assess alcohol purchasing and alcohol consumption risks at two time points, six months apart. An advisory group of alcohol policy experts and community-based organizations from six states will assure that investigative questions are those of greatest interest for alcohol prevention policymakers. Findings will rapidly disseminate results through online and video formats, as well as in scientific journals.