Extended lockdown and India’s alcohol policy: a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles
Authors
Abhishek Ghosh
aDrug Deaddiction and Treatment Centre & Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India
Shinjini Choudhury
bAll India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India
Aniruddha Basu
bAll India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India
Tathagata Mahintamani
aDrug Deaddiction and Treatment Centre & Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India
Kshitiz Sharma
aDrug Deaddiction and Treatment Centre & Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India
Renjith Pillai
aDrug Deaddiction and Treatment Centre & Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India
Debasish Basu
aDrug Deaddiction and Treatment Centre & Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India
SK Mattoo
aDrug Deaddiction and Treatment Centre & Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India
Keywords:
Qualitative analysis, Alcohol, Prohibition, Policy, India, SARS-CoV-2
Abstract
Objectives
Since 25th March 2020 India went into a complete and extended lockdown. Alcohol production, sales, and purchase were barred with this overnight prohibition order. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the media reports published within the first month of the nationwide lockdown with the objectives (a) using the media reports as indications of possible public health impact and population response of a sudden alcohol prohibition in India, (b) suggesting areas for future research.
Methods
We performed thematic and content analysis of 350 articles published online in national newspapers between the 26th March, 2020 and 25th April, 2020. Initial inductive, followed by deductive coding was done in this exploratory thematic analysis.
Results
The thematic analysis revealed four main themes: the beneficial aspects of the policy, the harmful aspects of the policy, non-compliance and attempts to change and / or subvert the policy, popularity and level of public buy-in of the policy. We generated relevant sub-themes under main themes. Two additional themes, not directly related to the sudden prohibition, were use of stigmatizing language and ethical concerns. The content analysis showed the frequency of the appearance of the main themes and proportions of sub-themes and codes under those main themes.
Conclusion
The harms, perceived from the media reports, should be balanced against the potential benefits. Absence of a national-level alcohol policy was made apparent by the reflexive, disconnected, and conflictual measures. Future research could systematically examine the potential ramifications of alcohol prohibition on public health, social, and economic aspects.
Keywords: Qualitative analysis, Alcohol, Prohibition, Policy, India, SARS-CoV-2
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