News & events

When the BC government began opening overdose prevention sites (OPS) across the province two years ago, it was an unprecedented response to the overdose crisis. Unlike supervised consumption sites (SCS), which were subject to lengthy (and often onerous) approval processes, OPS were rolled out quickly and led by community members on the front lines of the public-health emergency. In the early weeks of the sites being established in Victoria, researchers with the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) collaborated with several community agencies to learn from these innovative overdose prevention strategies.

CISUR scientist and former assistant director Scott Macdonald has published Cannabis Crashes: Myths and Truths, a new book looking at the epidemiological evidence supports Canada's new cannabis-impaired driving laws.

Want to usher in the latest chapter here at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research? CISUR and the University of Victoria are on the hunt for a new director.

The following University of Victoria experts 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.

Substance use in British Columbia cost the provincial economy $4.8 billion in 2014, according to a new summary report and cost profiles for the provinces and territories.

As Canada legalizes recreation cannabis, CISUR's iMinds drug and gambling literacy materials offers several new cannabis-related lesson ideas and guides.

How much does cannabis use cost Canadian society? Will cannabis substitute for alcohol…and is that a good thing? Are Canada’s new cannabis-impaired driving laws rooted in good science? How do we talk with our kids, families and communities about cannabis now that it’s legal? On the eve of legalization, join scientists and researchers from UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research as they share brief presentations on these and other cannabis-related research topics.

The BC Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General has provided funding to the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR, formerly CARBC) to support community dialogues in response to the opioid overdose crisis in British Columbia. Community coalitions from every region of the province are invited to submit a letter of interest in engaging their community in dialogue about opioid and other drug use. CARBC will provide selected communities with grants ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 to assist with costs associated with hosting a community dialogue.

Latest analyses of liquor sales data provided by the BC Liquor Distribution Authority to CISUR show that the substantial increases over the previous three years have been sustained.

Three University of Victoria faculty members, including CISUR director Tim Stockwell, have received the country’s highest academic honour, named 2018 fellows of the Royal Society of Canada.

Our first annual report as the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

A new report, co-led by CISUR and CCSA, reveals that substance use costs Canadian society $38.4 billion in 2014, with alcohol being the lead contributor.

A nationally recognized scholar, UVic sociologist Cecilia Benoit has illuminated the need for equitable treatment of marginalized populations, especially women, for more than 25 years. To support this important work, the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation has awarded Benoit a $225,000 fellowship over the next three years.

As cannabis legalization approaches and we see increasing deregulation of government controls on alcohol, Canada is at a pivotal time in policy-making around substance use. What can we learn from our neighbours to the south? Dr. William Kerr, a Senior Scientist and Director of ARG’s National Alcohol Research Center in Emeryville, California, looks at privatization of alcohol sales and the legalization of cannabis in Washington State, and how these changes have affected pricing, attitudes and consumption.

CISUR is pleased to present this public talk from the Reducing Stigma in Primary Care Research Team, available in person in Victoria, BC or via webinar.

For the first time, a peer-reviewed journal has compiled the largest collection of peer-reviewed articles on MAPs that aims to bring this radical harm-reduction strategy out into the open and shed light on how, in their different forms, they contribute to the health and well-being of participants.

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 Northern Territories Alcohol study led by the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR, formerly CARBC) and Public Health Ontario (PHO), is a first for Canada.

The International Model of Alcohol Harms and Policies (InterMAHP) version 1.0 is a comprehensive set of guidelines, methods and manuals, as well as a SAS®-based tool created towards the goal of standardizing and automating the calculation and application of alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) globally.

CISUR research plays key role in Scottish Supreme Court alcohol decision

Our latest research bulletin looks at a project where sex workers became health educators

What’s in a name? For the University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research of BC (CARBC), many things. Which is why we will now be known as the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).

CISUR and Island Health release "A Public Health Guide to Developing a Community Overdose Response Plan."

CISUR (formerly CARBC) is pleased to announce the release of its 2016/17 annual report.

CISUR Director Tim Stockwell on alcohol & cancer, industry obfuscation and the most viable approach to reduce population harms from alcohol