The Price Of Getting High, Stoned And Drunk In BC

A new study by UVic’s Centre for Addictions Research (CARBC) recommends ending rock bottom drink prices in government and private liquor stores to address the continuing connection between cheap alcohol, hospitalization and death in BC. The study also recommends giving controlled access to free alcohol for homeless problem drinkers to reduce their use of non-beverage alcohol. The study compares minimum prices for alcohol and illegal street drugs and shows that alcohol is by far the cheapest mood-altering drug in British Columbia.

“The minimum price for exceeding national, low health-risk drinking guidelines on a single day was $2.32 for a woman and $2.90 for a man,” says Tim Stockwell, director of CARBC and lead researcher in this study. “These low prices contribute to over 2,000 alcohol-related deaths and 20,000 hospitalizations in BC each year – more than for all the illicit drugs combined.”

The study findings are backed by a number of health policy experts. The authors explain that the price and availability of alcohol and illegal drugs are critical in determining their level of use in society and the level of harmful outcomes. In the case of alcohol, the study findings show that minimum prices in BC are not linked to the cost of living or to alcohol content and are considerably lower than in Saskatchewan and Ontario. The report calls for a stronger, more effective combination of regulation and harm reduction policies to respond to substance use in BC. For alcohol this means narrowing the very wide range of drink prices in government and private liquor stores—currently between 58 cents and $994 per standard drink—and introducing alcohol harm reduction programs for homeless problem drinkers.

When it comes to the high price of illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin, often costing users more than $100 per day, Stockwell highlights the importance of using harm reduction interventions such as methadone maintenance and heroin prescription. He explains that this would help prevent the crimes that some drug users commit to support their habit.

The study compares the price of alcohol in BC with six widely used illicit drugs. Their estimated street prices were obtained through interviews with 1,606 drug users in Victoria and Vancouver over the past three years. Lowest prices were estimated to be $1.07 for a small joint of cannabis, $1.25 for half a tablet of ecstasy, $2.57 for a small rock of crack, $3.33 for 0.1g of cocaine, $4.00 for 0.1g of crystal meth and $8 for 0.1g of heroin.

Research findings are available at http://carbc.ca/Portals/0/PropertyAgent/2111/Files/385/CARBC_Bulletin7.pdf

For more information about alcohol and other drug use in BC visit, www.AODmonitoring.ca
 

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