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Alcohol Use During COVID – What It Means For Seller-Servers

January 27, 2022
bartender wearing face mask

It probably surprises no one to say that alcohol use has increased since the start of the pandemic. That’s now been confirmed by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A huge increase in alcohol sales was clear as soon as stay-at-home orders started taking effect. According to a Nielson survey, off-premise alcohol sales went up 54% in March 2020 (and a whopping 524% for online alcohol sales). What wasn’t clear was whether this would mean increased consumption, or whether people were just stocking up in case of lower alcohol availability during lock-downs.

We now know consumption has, indeed, increased. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported an overall increase of 14% when compared with the same time period last year. For women, the increase is 17%. What’s more, while binge drinking was up in both men and women, it was up 41% for women. These findings come from the reported behavior of over 1500 adults between the ages of 30 and 59.

What does this mean for you, as a BASSET certified server or seller? It means you’ll want to be extra-aware of your customers’ potential intoxication levels before serving or selling, and to cut them off before they have too much. It means you’ll need to do everything you’ve already been trained to do by BASSET On The Fly, but don’t be surprised if you’re noticing more red flags in customers than usual.

Selling and serving alcohol responsibly has always been about the best interests of employers and the public, and that’s especially true now. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism highlighted the possibility of a cyclical relationship between increased alcohol consumption and the continuing spread of the pandemic. Alcohol misuse disrupts the body’s immune response to viral infections, so it leads to greater risks related to contracting COVID and effectively fighting it off. This means the more the public is drinking excessively, the worse COVID could be getting. And likewise, the worse COVID gets, the more the public might turn to excessive drinking.

 

Learn More with BASSET On The Fly

Whatever COVID-related stress drinking may temporarily salve will return and likely be worse when alcohol effects wear off. And unfortunately, behavior while drinking may create new stressors that will have to be dealt with as well. If you’re certified with BASSET On The Fly, you are well-prepared to do your part to minimize this widespread concern. If you’re not, then sign up for our online BASSET certification course today!

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