This plenary reviews what we know about changes in alcohol consumption since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as the changes in policies governing alcohol availability. It then reviews the policy issues associated with two sets of “stores”:

First, alcohol marketing itself has transformed in the digital marketing age. While industry voluntary codes set limits on youth exposure to alcohol marketing, in the digital era, exposure to marketing is less important than engagement, and both are increasingly difficult to monitor or measure. This brings in the first set of “stores” – the stores of data that alcohol marketers and social media platforms have collected, how they use these to target audiences, and the policy vacuum that surrounds this.

Second, the more obvious “stores” are the physical places to get alcohol. There have been many changes in the physical availability of alcohol in the wake of the pandemic, and alcohol marketers are likely to make these – such as home delivery and carryout cocktails – permanent. The presentation explores the public health and safety implications of these changes in availability, and the policy tools that may be needed to address them.

David Jernigan, PhD

A professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management at BUSPH; senior policy advisor to CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente; and former director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY). He is a member of the Cannabis Advertising and Social Media (CASM) research group, and senior advisor to the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems, a statewide effort of 18 institutions of higher education committed to reducing alcohol-related problems on campus and in the surrounding communities. Dr. Jernigan is also the scientific chair and serves on the board of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance.