When it comes to alcohol and drinking, convenience shouldn’t be the key.
Starting Sept. 5, alcoholic drinks will be available for sale in corner stores across Ontario. That’s right—thanks to Premier Doug Ford’s government, you can now purchase wine, beer, and ready-made cocktails at the same place you make your daily snack runs.
While private alcohol markets have been the norm in many parts of the world, including provinces like Alberta and Quebec, we shouldn’t be so quick to adopt this new reality without taking precautions. Just because other places have easy access to alcohol, doesn’t make it a necessity, nor the right thing for Ontario to do.
Granting the province more alcohol retailers and more buying freedom because they believe “the people of Ontario should be treated like adults” is a rather naïve mindset for the government to have. Further, they are pushing this expansion against the recommended guidelines from healthcare professionals, giving us more reason to question this decision.
By expanding the market, the number of stores allowed to sell alcohol will increase from 2935 LCBO outlets to a staggering 8500 stores. Ontarians are afforded the leisure of convenience and choice, but they’re in dangerous water without the proper regulations to keep alcohol sales under control, and above all, legal.
Unlike substances such as tobacco and marijuana, which found their place in the mainstream over time, there is no such stigma attached to alcohol, at least in North America. Consuming alcohol is deeply ingrained in or at the centre of social activities like gatherings and dining across all generations.
Since it’s unlikely that drinking culture will dial back in the foreseeable future, at the very least buyers and sellers need to be educated and people need a reliable healthcare system to fall back on. Unfortunately, neither of these factors are being sufficiently addressed in Ford’s plan, nor does it express any commitment to combatting the long-term effects of drinking and addiction.
For the occasional drinker, a higher number of stores will offer nothing more than what’s been promised, convenience. But for those prone to health issues and addiction, overly easy access to drinks will only exacerbate the risks. The bottom line is that the more access we have to alcohol, the more exposed we are to its negative effects.
Ultimately, the intention to drink, on its own, is enough to do harm, regardless of how easily the alcohol is obtained. What’s for certain is you won’t have to look further for a bottle or six-pack.
Ontario simply needs to get its priorities straight and improve the systems around alcohol consumption before it’s too late.
—Journal Editorial Board
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