24 Hour Alcohol Delivery Services present a mortal risk for alcoholics

In the past week, Wynford Ellis Owen, Director of the Welsh Council For Alcohol and Other Drugs visited an alcoholic engaged in an ongoing battle with alcohol addiction.

What confronted him as he stepped through the front door was a scene from hell.

In a recent blog post Wynford described the alcoholic's home as the prison of "…A still suffering alcoholic in the throes of active addiction with vomit all over the place – in Pyrex bowls and plates; on the settee; on the carpet; in the sink on top of her soaking, dirty plates; all over the bathroom; saturating her pillow and matted in her hair – and urine drenching her bedclothes and the stench permeating the whole flat. This alcoholic is being supplied with alcohol by a new breed of pariahs, the alcohol home delivery services, which she accesses by computer or telephone during the night."

In the last decade, drinks manufacturers have been inserting into their adverts the words 'Please enjoy Jack Daniels/Jacobs Creek/Stella Artois responsibly', placing the responsibility for the outcomes of drinking squarely on the shoulders of the drinker.

Is it not time that the drinks manufacturers now communicated a similar message to retailers and wholesalers of alcoholic drinks, asking them to 'Please sell our products responsibly'?

The commercial practice of selling alcohol by home delivery 24 hours a day makes the word irresponsible rather redundant. There is no legal sanction against this practice, and unlike alcohol sales on licensed premises, there is no penalty for selling alcohol to an already intoxicated person or under-age person.

Given that the market for late night parties that unexpectedly run out of wine or beer is probably rather small, the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs believes this trade thrives on alcoholics and has found at least one example where this is demonstrably the case.

The government, both in Wales and in Westminster must act to ensure that this new and unregulated frontier in the drinks industry is forced to adhere to the highest standards of responsibility, or be forced to cease trading.

However, beyond government action the home delivery sellers of alcohol must take strenuous action in order to distinguish themselves from common drug pushers, benefiting from a veneer of legality.

The fact that it is legal to sell alcohol to a dying alcoholic at any hour of the day or night should not be confused with the idea that it is right to do so, sellers of addictive and toxic products like alcohol should actually have a higher moral threshold than other retailers, given the risks to health and wellbeing that their products pose.