The COVID-19 outbreak, whether prepared or not, has systematically affected us. Gov. Roy Cooper has issued a stay-at-home order until April 29th, and with this date having the possibility of being further extended for safety reasons, we are not going to have the same access to goods and services as previously. Many public facilities, events and venues have either closed down or shifted to a more socially distanced format. Not everything has completely shut down, with the obvious contenders such as grocery stores continuing to operate, but for North Carolina and a few other states, that includes liquor stores.
While an exact list of what should be considered an essential business is not concrete, essential businesses tend to be defined as being necessary for ordinary life to be made possible. Grocery stores easily fall under the essential category, as we all need food and drink to survive. Alcohol is not an inherent necessity in order to survive, hence why many people are led to believe that leaving liquor stores open is unnecessary, but that is not the case. By keeping liquor stores open, we are avoiding potential side effects that could negatively affect our preparedness for the COVID-19 outbreak.
Liquor stores provide an alternative location to purchase alcohol, therefore emptying up grocery stores from potential customers. As we know, panic buying has been rampant across the nation since the inception of the crisis, causing store shelves to be barren from essential goods such as toilet paper or hand sanitizer. The less goods available, the more people are outside looking for essential goods, and the more likely they are to be exposed to COVID-19.
The state of Pennsylvania is a prime example of what happens when alcohol is not as accessible and people have to resort to alternative means in order to purchase alcoholic beverages. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board initially passed a statement to close down most physical and online liquor retailers by March 17, and as a result, there was a surge in panic buyers looking to stockpile alcoholic beverages. By April 1, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board reopened the online sale of alcohol, and alcohol became more accessible to the public.
Not everyone is free from alcohol dependency. Closing down the means of access to alcoholic beverages will lead to more cases of alcohol-dependent citizens to go through withdrawal. Less stores open lead to less access to alcohol, and less access to alcohol means alcohol-dependent citizens do not have the access to alcohol and experience alcohol withdrawal.
Under no circumstances should alcohol withdrawal be taken lightly, as a withdrawal episode can easily spiral out of control. With some of the critical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal ranging from tachycardia to seizures to hallucinations, a severe episode can easily lead to a hospital visit. And as we all know, hospitals are short of supplies such as ventilators, and any alcohol-dependent citizen experiencing a life-threatening withdrawal will probably not have priority over getting a ventilator.
Alcohol dependency is obviously not fully addressed through keeping liquor stores open; ideally, we need to work on the systemic lack of accessibility and social stigmatization of rehabilitation centers. However, in the middle of a pandemic crisis, we simply cannot be closing down liquor stores and think that we will not experience a spike in withdrawal cases. With roughly 80% of college students projected to be alcohol consumers, we cannot be dismissive of the potential for some of our peers to experience a severe episode of withdrawal and not have access to critical care. So yes, liquor stores are an essential business if we want to preserve our already overworked healthcare system and the lives of our fellow citizens. Arguing against that pits us against unneeded risks.
