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A Public Health Approach to Alcohol Policy in Canada

The Canadian Public Health Association has taken up the challenge to mobilize the public health community to respond to the growing burden of health and social problems associated with alcohol consumption in Canada. Their paper, Too High a Cost, has been influenced by research from CARBC as well as other Canadian and international centres.

CPHA is looking for organizations and individuals to join with them to instigate, influence and lead a comprehensive approach to alcohol harm reduction. Visit their site for suggested ways you can help to tackle the problem.

On the menu above, click on AOD Monitoring for information on the population impacts of alcohol in your area (in BC) and on Helping Communities for tools and resources developed by CARBC to help communities address alcohol.

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 further details, the letter published in the British Medical Journal or supplementary online material referred to in the letter.

Latest News & Notes

Research assistantships available at CARBC

Up to three 12-month MA and/or PhD research assistantships ranging from $10,000-$12,000, funded through a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) team grant, will be awarded in March 2012. Deadline for application is February 15, 2012.

... more news and notes

CARBC In the news

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

Canada approves first low-risk alcohol drinking guidelines
Date: November 25, 2011
Source: Ann Dowsett Johnston, Toronto Star

It’s like saying to a cancer patient: ‘We can’t treat you yet because your cancer isn’t at Stage 4.
Date: November 25, 2011
Source: Ann Dowsett Johnston, Toronto Star

... more news items

Upcoming events

The Internationalization of Ayahuasca: Public Controversies and Regulation
Date: February 16, 2012, 4:00-5:00 pm
Location: University of Victoria Campus

Reflections on the International Process of Expansion and Regulation of Ayahuasca
Date: February 17, 2012 - 4:30-5:30 pm
Location: SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver

Insights & Innovations 2012
Date: February 29, March 1-2, 2012
Location: Renaissance Hotel, Vancouver

IdeaFest
Date: March 5-12, 2012
Location: University of Victoria Campus

Drug Policy in Global Perspective
Date: May 19 - June 1, 2012
Location: Amsterdam & Canterbury

... more events

Canadian Media Stories on Alcohol or Other Drugs

CN BC: OPED: Legalizing Marijuana Not The Answer For Canada

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
Goldstream Gazette, 08 Feb 2012 - I've read the article =93Metchosin weighs in on legalizing pot=94 published on Jan. 18, in the Gazette and I also recognize that there is a strong push in this direction being made by a vocal minority in relation to this subject. At the risk of lighting the fuse on the powder keg that this issue has become, I think it's very important to look at this with our best possible eyes.

CN AB: Editorial: Anything But Ecstasy

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
High River Times, 07 Feb 2012 - Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you know that there have been a number of ecstasy related deaths in the Calgary area. While an ecstasy dealer was recently arrested in Banff, it is unclear whether or not the deaths are going to stop since the ecstasy is still circulating within the area. Sadly, High River has not been immune to this, with one new resident passing away at the High River Hospital after taking tainted ecstasy.

CN BC: PUB LTE: Money Wasted On Fighting Drug War

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
Chilliwack Times, 07 Feb 2012 - Editor: Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children.

CN ON: LTE: Results Of Soft Sentencing

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
Toronto Sun, 06 Feb 2012 - Re "Ecstasy nation" (Jan. 29): Canada is the number one source country for synthetic drugs. This did not happen overnight. When the benefits of crime (money/greed/control) outweigh the punishment, then crime flourishes. Years of the leftist soft approach to crime and punishment have left Canadians with this shame and proves the soft approach does not work. Realistic prison sentencing for someone convicted of drug trafficking would be a deterrent for those convicted, and should be a general deterrent for everyone if the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime. What is the cost analysis of the revolving door approach of light sentencing -- police, courts, probation, legal aid, monetary and property losses, medical costs for victims' rehabilitation/hospitals, etc.? But no analysis can put a dollar amount on the wrecked lives because of what the drug traffickers and other criminal activities have done to users and those who love them. I commend Prime Minister Stephen Harpe! r for his tough stance on crime and his agenda to build more prisons. Brenda James

CN ON: Drug Dealer Agreed Not To Sue Police, Court Told

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
Toronto Star, 06 Feb 2012 - A former senior Crown attorney says he had no idea a marijuana dealer, as part of a plea bargain, had signed a document releasing drug squad officers who allegedly beat him from any liability for his injuries. Kofi Barnes, now a provincial court judge, was the Crown who supervised 10 federal prosecutors at Old City Hall, including Beverley Olesko, who took Christopher Quigley's June 3, 1998, guilty plea.

CN AB: Close Calls Behind Headlines

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
The Calgary Sun, 04 Feb 2012 - Up to 25 Hospitalized by Deadly Ecstasy While some die dropping E, many have close calls. "Although the fatalities are tragic, the number of those who were hospitalized and survived is at least two to three times higher than those who died," says Dr. Mark Yarema, the Poison and Drug Information Service medical director and an ER physician.

CN AB: Not E-Nough

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
The Calgary Sun, 04 Feb 2012 - Seeing ecstasy long lumped into the category of so-called softer drugs is a hurdle officials have to clear before the message it's dangerous will be heard. It has been around for decades and as seen in the recent rash of deaths in B.C. and Alberta, the additive of PMMA has made it even more potentially lethal.

CN BC: PUB LTE: Treat Pot Smoking Like Cigarettes

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
Goldstream Gazette, 03 Feb 2012 - Re: Metchosin weighs in on legalizing pot, News, Jan. 18, 2012. The move of several municipalities to urge the legalization of cannabis will, I hope, have some influence of national policy, or at least police enforcement.

CN MB: OPED: Ecstasy Is No Way To Die

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT
Winnipeg Free Press, 02 Feb 2012 - RICHMOND B.C. -- Another person -- a teenaged boy -- has died from an ecstasy overdose in Vancouver this month, bringing to 19 the number of ecstasy-related death in the past six months in B.C. Ecstasy is described as a "recreational" drug. It makes you feel warm and outgoing. It makes you want to hug everyone.