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The owner of Orkney’s Stromness Hotel confirmed it will not sell alcohol as part of a nascent socially-engaged hotel chain.

Jersey-based Payman Investment already owns a dozen hotels and has three more in the pipeline, says CEO Na’im Anis Payman, on a call from Albania.

“There is no huge money pot,” says Payman, saying the chain’s expansion is funded from bank financing.

Its eclectic portfolio already offers stays in locations from Stoke-on-Trent to Ulaanbaatar and points between.

Payman follows baha’i, a faith barring the consumption and sale of alcohol, but he notes his view also fits with science.

The company’s alcohol-free approach is best seen as part of a human and women’s rights agenda, says chief impact officer Tahirih Danesh.

The details of Stromness’s offer are still being finalised, but a common feature of all the hotels will be strong ties with local communities, Danesh says.

It will definitely include serving soothing alcohol-free drinks in the public Flattie Bar. Other possible options will include a spa, massage, yoga and tai chi.

The hotel will not be entirely alcohol-free either, because guests at events like weddings will be allowed to bring their own supply.

Payman says the clarified alcohol-free plan now has significant public and private support, having caused a rumpus when first floated in August. ■

by Ian Hamilton, University of York

Increased drinking during the pandemic has created a group of people who don’t see themselves as alcoholics but have difficulty abstaining from alcohol for any length of time. This group, starting to be called grey-area drinkers, are at risk of alcohol-related health problems.

The relatively new term “grey-area drinking” describes people who consume more than a moderate amount of alcohol but don’t meet the criteria for dependence. Although they might not drink every day or have a drink first thing in the morning (the widely held view of an alcoholic) they are likely to be preoccupied with alcohol and have difficulty giving up. Many of these people don’t view themselves as in need of help.

Any widespread increase in levels of alcohol consumption matters. While most people are familiar with the risk of dependence there are a range of severe physical health problems associated with increased alcohol consumption that they are not so aware of. These include heart disease and a range of cancers, including bowel and breast.

Litres of alcohol bought in shops from April 2018 to 1 March 2021

Although overall consumption of alcohol has been slowly declining in recent years there is emerging evidence that some people have increased their consumption. The heaviest-buying segment of the population increased their purchasing by 5.3 million litres of alcohol (+14.3%) from 2019 to 2021. At the same time physical harm from alcohol has been increasing, with a significant rise in hospital admissions and alcohol-related deaths.

Public Health England collated the results of 18 surveys of self-reported alcohol consumption during the pandemic. Between 11% and 37% reported drinking less but between 14% and 26% of people reported drinking more than usual. This is especially concerning given that we know most people underestimate how much they drink by up to 40% in these surveys.

Pubs were closed during the pandemic, so drinking at home increased. This may have encouraged drinking in large quantities as people tend to pour larger measures of alcohol when drinking at home compared to the measures they are given in bars.

Evidence found that those who experienced stress during the pandemic increased the amount of alcohol they drank and how often. One international study exploring alcohol consumption during periods of self-isolation found that it was British drinkers who were most likely to increase the amount of alcohol they consumed – which they say was due to elevated levels of COVID-related stress.

These surveys found a noticeable increase in consumption for some once the pandemic began. Those who were drinking below the governments recommended weekly limits, continued to stay within these limits. However those who were already drinking above the 14 units a week increased their consumption.

Current UK guidance suggests no more than 14 units of alcohol should be consumed in a week (see illustration).

Levels of hazardous drinking are considered to be more than 50 units a week for men and 35 units for women. Evidence suggests that there was a 59% increase in those reporting drinking at these levels compared to before the pandemic.

Some argue that the alcohol industry embraces the perception that the majority of people drink responsibly. This has been one of the industry’s main arguments for resisting greater regulation. The industry points to the need for personal responsibility rather than corporate responsibility, although they fail to define what responsible drinking is. This shifts the onus onto the individual to make a change to their drinking habits rather than requiring the industry to make changes to its marketing or promotion techniques.

At a time when there is a clear need to tackle increased alcohol consumption, funding for specialist treatment and support has been withering. Some sections of the alcohol industry were encouraged to increase marketing spend as it would be more effective than ever. Some analysis shows that alcohol companies have also used lockdown for targeted social media activity. And the alcohol industry’s multi-million pound spend on marketing is huge, compared with the budget for public health messages, a truly David and Goliath struggle.

There has been little mention of alcohol or our unhealthy relationship with it during the pandemic by the government. For instance, off-licences were deemed to be essential services and stayed open during lockdown. The alcohol industry has proved to be adept at influencing government policy in its favour.

As treatment budgets are cut industry marketing increases and there is nothing to suggest that there will be any reduction in demand for hospital treatment due to alcohol or, sadly, coroners recording yet more alcohol-related deaths. ■

Ian Hamilton, Associate Professor of Addiction, University of York This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

It was seven years ago when I first stopped drinking alcohol as background for a book, a project which significantly changed my life and my ideas.

I never intended to make my own experiences central to my work on the topic and this has not changed. I will only ever be a single data point in a story involving millions.

But I do think having first-hand experience from both “sides” is crucial to the journalistic task. They allow us to understand and describe things better.

Like many my alcohol habits have had phases at the riskier end of the spectrum. It was mostly the classic British weekly session, or two, and the odd drink dotted through the week.

I had started drinking in what I considered a “mature” way in my 30s, as many do, pouring a loosener at the end of a day at work. It might be two or three if it was a hard one.

But having an unexceptional drinking pattern does not mean change comes easily. I used alcohol as both a stressbuster and mood booster. Life was going to be rougher without it.

Each situation and hangup had to be dealt with head on as it arose, rather than being conveniently smoothed over with the silky-smooth plaster of a pint or three.

A great number of things had been summarily dealt with using alcohol. Going alcohol-free meant dealing with this backlog on top of the flow of new challenges.

Luckily for me I saw this as a work assignment, so I was okay with it not being a barrel of laughs. And my research was, thankfully, showing it should get easier in time.

In the short term I found it best to simply avoid challenging situations. Alcohol-free drinks are good cover for mingling without an interrogation from evangelistic drinkers.

But also crucial to the exercise was exploring activities beyond alcohol drinking situations. After a certain point they are, sadly, often less entertaining when experienced sober.

This resulted in no end of experiments, including cold showers, improv, leaf tea, swimming, psychogeography, VR and simulators. Alcohol was replaced by chronic dilettantism.

I noticed that my long distance running and cycling actually contributed to stress and pain I might seek alcohol to relieve. So I turned down the intensity of my sessions.

So over years my counterproductive stress-drinking has been replaced by an eclectic mix. Negative stress is now gone quicker and the buzz of occasional success is felt longer.

A few of life’s trials have come along in the interim. None of them have led me to drink alcohol again. And giving up tobacco was not a big deal without alcohol there to derail me.

The book was finished in summer 2016 after just under two years. I no longer felt obliged to continue with not drinking, but I wanted to.

I had made so much effort learning to live free of alcohol, which I’d also learned was counterproductive. It would be a massive waste to return to drinking, so I didn’t.

Another three years or so passed and I did not touch a drop. I simply did not want to. But then I got interested in the taste, so had the odd tiny alcoholic drink.

And that’s more or less where I am. Once or twice I have had a strong craft beer and felt a mild psychoactive effect. To my surprise I found I disliked it. 

Something I once saw as a universal balm for my worries now makes me feel like I am coming down with a cold and aware I am talking too much. And I feel annoyingly agitated.

So there is no epic struggle needed to resist drinking more. I drink a tiny measure to taste it and leave it at that. I stay well away from the unwanted effects. 

No doubt I am shaped by years of covering the subject. So, I would not recommend this very low-level dabbling as an objective for anyone.

And it helps to rethink freedom too. It now does not involve disabling my brain, harming myself in obedience to social convention, or relying on a sedative to quash stress.

If there is a health objective which might be more universal, it is to look after our brains as best we can. It is our biggest asset. This, for me, means no alcohol bingeing at all.

If I feel like I might go against this objective, I will simply go back to drinking nothing at all. It would, in comparison, be no big loss. 

There have been challenges, of course, but my choices were the ones that were easiest and most enjoyable on aggregate for me. The only real difficulty was ensuring they were not overlooked. ■

Over three-quarters of Brits want laws to limit the exposure of children and young people to alcohol advertising amid record alcohol deaths across the country.

The alcohol death toll is highest among older, heavier drinkers whose intake increased under the strain of the covid-19 crisis. Stopping alcohol marketing to under-18s could help curb future problems.

Alcohol is not part of the government’s plans to stop junk food advertising online and stop TV ads for it before 9pm in 2023, despite killing record numbers of British people in 2020.

“If alcohol is not included in the plans, we risk alcohol advertising filling the void that is left behind,” said Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, head of the Alcohol Health Alliance, of the survey done by YouGov for Action on Smoking and Health.

The survey found 77% support a ban on advertising alcohol to children and young people, with 70% supporting a ban on TV ads before 9pm, and 72% a ban on cinema ads for films for under 18s, the legal drinking age.

Another 57% of the 12,000 surveyed support a ban on alcohol advertising in public spaces such as streets, parks and on public transport. Parents have little control of the messages their children see outside the house.

Advertising is done to make products as desirable as possible to maximise sales. Consequently alcohol advertising is causally linked to earlier and riskier alcohol use among young people, with the vast majority seeing it.

Alcohol marketing in the UK is informally overseen by the alcohol and advertising industries themselves, and in special cases Ofcom, a government body. The alcohol industry says genuine regulation is unnecessary.

Others disagree. “Limits on the marketing can help prevent young people’s relationship with alcohol being influenced by advertising,” said Richard McVey of Aquarius, which helps young people with alcohol and other drug problems.

“We need comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising across multiple media, including restrictions on sponsorships and activities targeting young people,” said the Alcohol Health Alliance.

The placement of alcohol brands in nominally non-commercial content of TV and films raises yet more complex issues. This may lie beyond the scope of even a legally-empowered advertising regulator. ■

Note: You can explore this topic through the Alcohol in the Media event, with expert presentations from researchers Alex Barker and Amanda Atkinson, and Alison Douglas, head of the charity Alcohol Focus Scotland.

Services for people with alcohol and other drug problems in England and Wales saw budgets cut 15% in the three years to last year, when associated deaths hit record numbers.

A record 7,423 people in England and Wales died from alcohol-specific causes and 4,561 people died from causes related to drug poisoning, another record.

“It is unacceptable public health services that tackle alcohol and drug addiction are left so weakened because of deep cuts when we know that they can cause huge harm and death,” said Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary.

Council spending on services to prevent them, meanwhile, fell to £690m from £762m in 2017, 15% after inflation, says analysis by the House of Commons Library for the Labour Party.

Four councils saw real-terms cuts in alcohol and drug services of over 40%, namely Medway, namely South Tyneside, Staffordshire and Wiltshire. Only ten saw a spending rise on these services.

“Treatment is essential to help those with alcohol dependence towards recovery but has long been underfunded and inaccessible to many,” said Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK. ■

One in 25 cancers is linked to alcohol consumption, with men accounting for three quarters of cases, according to a global study in Lancet Oncology.

“Public health strategies, such as reduced alcohol availability, labelling alcohol products with a health warning, and marketing bans could reduce rates of alcohol-driven cancer,” says Harriet Rumgay of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, also recommending higher taxes and minimum pricing.

The estimates would mean 740,000 cancer cases globally were linked to alcohol last year, with heavy drinkers contributing bar far the most. But there is no risk-free level of alcohol drinking and cancer. Low-level drinkers were one-in-seven of alcohol-linked cancer cases.

“It is safest not to drink alcohol, but if you do, you should stick to the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines which is to drink no more than 14 units a week [or 140ml of alcohol] on a regular basis,” said Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the UK’s Alcohol Health Alliance.

Cancers of the oesophagus, liver, and breast accounted for most of the cases. Alcohol damages DNA and affects hormone production, which can contribute to cancer development, as well as worsen the cancer-causing effects of substances like tobacco.

In the UK the alcohol-lined cancer rate was the global average of 4%, with 16,800 cases; The US, 3%, with 52,700 cases; China 6%, 282,300; Germany 4%, 21,500 cases; and France 5%, 20,000 cases. The percentage of alcohol-linked cancer cases were reckoned to be highest in Mongolia, at 10%, from 560 cases, and lowest in Kuwait, where it was 0%, with just a few cases.

The study made its estimate by looking at alcohol intake in 2010 and the number of cases of cancers known to be linked to alcohol last year. Some suspect the research may underestimate alcohol’s contribution to cancer cases, because a quarter of alcohol purchases are not captured by government figures. ■