Alcohol and Tobacco Use After One Month of Containment Measures for the COVID-19 Sanitary Crisis in France.

OBJECTIVE

The measures put in place to contain the coronavirus epidemic in France have led to fears of a massive increase in the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

METHOD: Taking advantage of an ongoing weekly Internet survey monitoring living conditions of the French population during the containment, we introduced questions on alcohol and tobacco use 1 month after the start of the first containment. Analyses were conducted with multivariate Poisson regressions.

RESULTS

Tobacco consumption remained almost unchanged. By contrast, more than a third of French people did change their weekly alcohol intake: 13% increased it, whereas 21% decreased it, indicating that the containment measures were often taken as an opportunity to reduce alcohol consumption, especially among those who drank less than 4 days per week before. Men were more likely to decrease their alcohol intake and less likely to increase it than women, probably because of a differential impact of the reduction of social activities on gendered social roles. The people most affected were smokers and those living in a dwelling in which someone had been infected, including themselves.

CONCLUSIONS

The crisis tended to polarize alcohol consumption toward extremes. If the new drinking habits were to continue, the consequences could be beneficial for occasional drinkers but harmful for heavier drinkers.