Managing alcohol in COVID

Colourful, highly visible warning labels applied to bottles and cans of alcohol in Yukon’s largest liquor store prompted many people in Canada’s highest-alcohol-consuming region to cut back on their drinking. This was one of the major findings from the Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study—a real-world study of alcohol warning labels led by CISUR in 2017—published this month in a special section of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

A new UVic study is looking at the potential effects of combining substances such as alcohol and cannabis during early pregnancy. The work is on the heels of the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in Canada.

Researchers with UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research say warning labels are the best way of communicating alcohol’s health risks.

As Canadians are preparing to fire up the grill for the last big weekend of the summer, it might come as a surprise to hear that we may be consuming as many calories in our beers as we are in our burgers, according to a recent study out of UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments could be doing a much better job at implementing policies that reduce alcohol-related harms, according to new reports from the UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments could be doing a much better job at implementing policies that reduce alcohol-related harms, according to new reports from UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

A managed alcohol program (MAP) provides people who haven’t found success with abstinence-based approaches with pre-measured doses of beer or wine—often paired with housing and other supports—as a way of reducing the harms from alcohol. But do they work? A national study, co-led by Bernie Pauly and Tim Stockwell at UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, is finding out—and so far, signs point to yes.

University of Victoria substance use experts Scott MacDonald and Tim Stockwell are available to media for perspective on the Canadian government's changes to drug-impaired driving laws, including the introduction of mandatory alcohol screening, set to come into force on December 18.

Through research conducted during a co-op work term, biochemistry undergraduate James Saville was able to help a Duncan brewery optimize the recipe for their IPA—determining the best hop type and timing to maximize flavour, while spending less money on the expensive ingredient.

Substance use costs Canadian society $38.4 billion a year, or almost $1,100 for every person in Canada, according to a new study. The Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms study, produced by UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, examines the costs and harms associated with substance use, and spans four broad areas: health care, lost production, criminal justice and other direct costs.

The practice of providing alcohol to people with severe alcohol dependence is a complex and sometimes controversial approach to harm-reduction. For the first time, a peer-reviewed journal has compiled the largest collection of peer-reviewed articles on these managed alcohol programs, led by UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

For the first time, a peer-reviewed journal has compiled the largest collection of peer-reviewed articles on managed alcohol programs, which are harm-reduction interventions that provide alcohol to people with severe alcohol dependence. The work is part of a national study led by UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).

How much does alcohol cost? Think beyond the price of a bottle of wine; how many deaths per year are due to alcohol-related colon cancer? How about hospitalizations due to impaired driving accidents? To calculate these costs, PhD student Adam Sherk developed the International Model of Alcohol Harms and Policies, or InterMAHP.

Starting today, warning labels cautioning consumers about the link between alcohol use and an increased risk of breast and colon cancer will be applied to all bottles and cans sold at the Whitehorse liquor store. This specific labelling, part of the study led by UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, is a first for Canada.

Over the years, a number of studies have shown that adults who drink moderately have lower heart disease rates than non-drinkers. But a new paper led by scientists at the UVic's Centre for Addictions Research provides grounds for a healthy skepticism around the idea that moderate drinking is good for you.