Sharp rise in BC drinking rates

BC has seen the largest annual jump in alcohol consumption in more than a decade, a rise equivalent to 15 bottles of beer per person per year. The average British Columbian now drinks a volume of alcohol equivalent to 528 bottles of beer or 100 bottles of wine per year.

“This increase coincides with reforms to the BC liquor laws introduced in early 2014,” says Tim Stockwell, director of University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research (CARBC).

In 2013, close to 24,500 hospital admissions and 1,281 deaths in BC were attributed to alcohol-related causes. According to analyses and modeling done by CARBC for the Ministry of Health, the impact of this 2.9 per cent uptick in consumption will increase that annual toll by an additional estimated 655 hospital admissions and 31 deaths.

Changes to policy include: the introduction of happy hours; easing of restrictions on licence extensions (e.g. ski hill operators); increasing competition between private and government liquor stores; and the removal of numerous restrictions on where and when alcohol can be sold and consumed.

The rise in annual consumption in the last fiscal year is the largest increase since CARBC started its Alcohol and Other Drug monitoring in 2005. Statistics Canada has not yet updated its data for 2014/15 but the rates of alcohol consumption in BC are bucking the national downward trend.

Year round and particularly during the holiday season, CARBC recommends people who plan to drink familiarize themselves with Canada’s low-risk drinking guidelines: no more than two drinks a day or 10 per week for women, and three drinks a day or 15 per week for men, with an extra drink allowed on special occasions.

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An infographic is available for download here.