Bottle shop limits a ‘dangerous marketing ploy’ to ‘entice stockpiling’: AADANT

Alcohol treatment services have accused bottle shops of using pandemic-inspired limits on the amount of grog Territorians can buy as a cynical ‘marketing ploy’ to drive up sales.

Alcohol treatment services have accused bottle shops of using pandemic-inspired limits on the amount of grog Territorians can buy as a cynical “marketing ploy” to drive up sales.

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ALCOHOL treatment services have accused bottle shops of using pandemic-inspired limits on the amount of grog Territorians can buy as a cynical “marketing ploy” to drive up sales.

Association of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies NT executive officer Peter Burnheim said the restrictions were unnecessary and could be seen as “encouraging people to buy the maximum”.

“AADANT would like to reassure the public the supply of alcohol is abundant and any limits put on the purchase of alcohol are advertised to entice stockpiling,” he said.

“AADANT supports all harm reduction initiatives and we believe this to be a dangerous marketing ploy to get more people to buy alcohol beyond their means.”

Mr Burnheim said there was still “plenty (of alcohol) to go around” and he was particularly concerned about people who had lost their jobs due to the crisis feeling pressured to stock up.

“We don’t want that situation to occur where people start to get the idea that there’s a scarcity and they need to bulk buy their alcohol,” he said.

“Especially with the number of people who have just lost work, we don’t want people putting all of their money into stockpiling alcohol, people need to stay very aware of their budgeting in these sorts of economic conditions.”

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Mr Burnheim said coronavirus related lockdowns could also lead to increased stress and anxiety which could see many people turn to the bottle as a coping mechanism.

“As we’ve seen internationally, some of the quarantining restrictions have resulted in increases in alcohol use and we have concerns about the impact of the measures of quarantining for COVID-19 around the levels of alcohol use potentially spiking,” he said.

“We’re encouraging the general public not to buy excessive amounts of alcohol in response to the limitations and for people to remain cognisant of their alcohol and potentially other drug use in a quarantine situation of people being at home with restricted activities.”

Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said its members were following the lead of major supermarkets hoping to avoid a repeat of the panic buying of items such as toilet paper.

“We have encouraged our venues to adopt similar quantity restrictions to ensure stock piling and panic buying is limited,” he said.

“We support public messaging from counsellors and the NGO sector with regard to the mental health task being created from job losses, isolation, lack of usual routine and socialisation and encourage the public to access their services for support.

“There are a lot of jobs that have been lost in our industry and we caution against any knee-jerk reactions that would ultimately cost more Territorian jobs.”

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Mr Bruce said the venues were adhering to all responsible service of alcohol and banned drinker register requirements.

To access any alcohol and other drug service in the NT, visit aadant.org.au/service-directory

Lifeline: 13 11 14.