Colbert, Stephanie and Wilkinson, Claire and Thornton, Louise and Feng, Xiaoqi and Richmond, Robyn (2021) Online alcohol sales and home delivery: an international policy review and systematic literature review. Health Policy, 125, (9), pp. 1222-1237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.07.005.
BACKGROUND: Online alcohol sales are experiencing rapid growth in many places, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting new laws and regulations. There are no comprehensive and systematic analyses of the laws or their effectiveness.
OBJECTIVE: To summarise international policies governing online alcohol sale and delivery, including changes occurring with COVID-19, and examine available evidence of retailer compliance with such policies.
METHOD: A policy review of 77 jurisdictions in six English-speaking OECD countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. We synthesised policies according to ten elements identified as potentially relevant for public health regulation. A systematic literature review of compliance evaluations in Medline, Medline Epub, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science and Google Scholar.
RESULTS: 72 of 77 jurisdictions permitted online alcohol sales and home delivery. Few jurisdictions require age verification at the time of purchase (n = 7), but most require it at delivery (n = 71). Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, most jurisdictions (69%) have either temporarily or permanently relaxed liquor regulations for alcohol home delivery. Three articles examined retailer compliance with age restrictions and found relatively low compliance (0%-46%).
CONCLUSION: Many jurisdictions permit the online sale and delivery of alcohol, but regulation of these sales varies widely. In most, regulations do not meet the same standard as bricks-and-mortar establishments and may be insufficient to prevent youth access.
B Substances > Alcohol
MP-MR Policy, planning, economics, work and social services > Policy > Policy on substance use > Harm reduction policy
MP-MR Policy, planning, economics, work and social services > Marketing and public relations (advertising) > Internet retailing (online sales / dark web)
T Demographic characteristics > Child / children
T Demographic characteristics > Adolescent / youth (teenager / young person)
VA Geographic area > International
VA Geographic area > Europe > Ireland
Click here to request a copy of this literature
Repository Staff Only: item control page