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Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines

A thematic issue of Drug and Alcohol Review on Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines was published on March 5, 2012. It includes 14 articles, 4 commentaries and an editorial. CARBC researchers have made important contributions to the low-risk drinking guidelines literature and have co-authored several of the articles in this collection. The publisher, Wiley, has made it available for free access for a month.

Link to information on Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines

Moderate Drinking and Health Benefits: How good is the science?

A critique of a well-known paper published last year in the British Medical Journal concerning moderate drinking and health has appeared as a letter to the editor of that same journal. The letter, co-authored by CARBC scientists and colleagues at other centres in Australia and the USA, concludes that all but two of the 84 reports in the original paper contain at least one serious methodological error and that the remaining two studies are equivocal in their results. Use the following links to access the letter published in the British Medical Journal or supplementary online material referred to in the letter.

Latest News & Notes

Healthy Minds, Healthy People: Monitoring Progress, First Annual Report 2011

The BC government has released a first annual report on monitoring progress of implementation of Healthy Minds, Healthy People: A Ten-Year Plan to Address Mental Health and Substance Use in British Columbia. An accompanying website, which is referenced in the report, will be going live soon.

... more news and notes

CARBC In the news

Health authority releases new cannabis harm reduction resource
Date: May 2, 2012
Source: Donald MacPherson, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Alcohol program evaluators back regulated pot
Date: March 16, 2012
Source: Cheryl Rossi, Vancouver Courier

BC policies to restrict cheap alcohol have curbed consumption
Date: December 13, 2011
Source: University of Victoria

... more news items

Upcoming events

Why InSite Won: A Forum on the Community Struggle
Date: May 31, 2012 - 7:00-9:00 pm
Location: Ambrosia Conference Centre, Victoria

3rd National Symposium on Child and Youth Mental Health
Date: May 30 - June 1, 2012
Location: MacEwan Conference Centre, Calgary

Health Communication & Evaluation: 2012 PHABC Summer School
Date: July 24-27, 2012
Location: 7 sites across BC

Promoting Mental Health in BC Schools: Summer Institute 2012
Date: August 23-24, 2012
Location: University of British Columbia

... more events

Canadian Media Stories on Alcohol or Other Drugs

CN NS: New Drug Causing Concern In Truro And Elsewhere

Sat, 19 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Truro Daily News, 19 May 2012 - 'We have heard that dealers are lacing marijuana with this drug' TRURO - A new street drug, known to be in use in areas of northern Nova Scotia, has health and law enforcement groups concerned about its harmful and psychotic effects.

CN NS: New Drug With Unpredictable Effects Making Rounds

Sat, 19 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
The Evening News, 19 May 2012 - NEW GLASGOW - A new street drug is causing concern among the local police and health authorities. Health authorities in northern Nova Scotia are warning people that a new synthetic drug, commonly known as "bath salts," is causing harmful and psychotic effects to people using it.

CN ON: Keep An Eye Out For Pot Planters, Police Warn

Sat, 19 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Packet & Times, 19 May 2012 - STAFF -- With the planting season underway, police are warning locals to be on the lookout for marijuana grow operations. Marijuana is planted in May and June, with growers heading out to rural areas in search of property suitable for the illegal crop, warns the Orillia OPP in a media release.

CN BC: PUB LTE: War On Drugs A Waste

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Nelson Star, 18 May 2012 - Calls to end the infamous War on Drugs don't just come from the funny dressed hairy crowd anymore. Over the decades a number of Canadian senate committees have called for an end to it and the conservative Fraser Institute has condemned it since 2001. Last June the United Nations Global Commission on Drugs Policy put it this way: "the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but do no harm to others should be ended." Here in BC, Stop the Violence, which consists of prominent BC police officers, health professionals, legal experts and academics have been advocating much the same.

CN BC: LTE: Legalizing Pot Won't Stop Gangs

Thu, 17 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Surrey Leader, 17 May 2012 - Re: "Prohibition won't stop teen pot use." I read with interest Evan Woods' letter in the May 8 edition of The Leader and just had to say something. We hear the same old explanations for legalization all the time - how liquor prohibition didn't work, how gang violence is increasing, how teens seek the "forbidden fruit" and all these points are true, but there are other things to consider.

CN BC: LTE: The Myths Of Ending Marijuana Prohibition

Thu, 17 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Surrey Leader, 17 May 2012 - Re: "Eight mayors echo call for marijuana reform." Hallelujah! After four former B.C. attorneys general have joined four former Vancouver mayors endorsing an end to marijuana prohibition, eight sitting B.C. mayors have now "echoed" the clarion call for marijuana reform.

CN ON: Police Corruption Trial: Never Said We Seized A Pound Of Cocaine

Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Toronto Star, 16 May 2012 - A former drug squad officer on trial for corruption denies his team under-reported almost $17,000 worth of cocaine seized from a trafficker's home. Raymond Pollard, 48, took the stand in his defence Wednesday and disputed another police officer's testimony.

CN BC: PUB LTE: Legalization Doesn't Lead To More Drug Use

Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
The Daily Courier, 16 May 2012 - Question, from a non-user: How is it that those U.S. states that have legalized marijuana, which resulted in saving investigation, arrests, prosecution, less overcrowding and prison costs, have not seen a measurable increase in its use or of hard drugs? Any kind of smoking is increasingly prohibited in public places nationally. Only fear and presumptions of imaginary communities becoming deluged pot-heads is believed by many in today's moralistic society.

CN ON: Police corruption trial: Miched Says He Did Not Lie About

Tue, 15 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT
Toronto Star, 15 May 2012 - A former Toronto drug squad officer is disputing allegations he applied for a warrant to conceal an illegal search and later lied about it in court. Prosecutor Susan Reid suggested Tuesday that in February 1998 drug squad officers "jumped the warrant" in the search of a Scarborough apartment where heroin dealer Ho Bing Pang lived.