INTRODUCTION:Effective alcohol control measures can prevent and reduce alcohol-related harms at the population level. This study aims to evaluate implementation of alcohol policies across 11 evidence-based domains in Canada's 13 jurisdictions.METHODS:The Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation project assessed all provinces and territories on 11 evidence-based domains weighted for scope and effectiveness. A scoring rubric was developed with policy and practice indicators and peer-reviewed by international experts. The 2017 data were collected from publicly-available regulatory documents, validated by government officials, and independently scored by team members.RESULTS:The average score for alcohol policy implementation across Canadian provinces and territories was 43.8%; Ontario had the highest (63.9%) and Northwest Territories the lowest (38.4%) jurisdictional scores. Only six of 11 policy domains had average scores above 50% with Monitoring and Reporting scoring the highest (62.8%) and Health and Safety Messaging the lowest (25.7%). A 2017 provincial/territorial current best practice score of 86.6% was calculated taking account of the highest scores for any individual policy indicators implemented in at least one jurisdiction across the country.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:Most of the evidence-based alcohol policies assessed by the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation project were not implemented across Canadian provinces and territories as of 2017, and many provinces showed declining scores since 2012. However, the majority of policies assessed have been implemented in at least one jurisdiction. Improved alcohol policies to reduce related harm are therefore achievable and could be implemented consistently across Canada.

IntroductionWe conducted a pilot assessment of the feasibility of implementing the International Alcohol Control (IAC) Study in Ontario, Canada, to allow for future comparisons on the impacts of alcohol control policies with a number of countries. MethodsThe IAC Study questionnaire was adapted for use in the province of Ontario, and a split-sample approach was used to collect data. Data were collected by computer-assisted telephone interviewing of 500 participants, with half the sample each answering a subset of the adapted IAC Study survey. ResultsJust over half of the sample (53.6%) reported high frequency drinking (once a week or more frequently), while 6.5% reported heavy typical occasion drinking (8 drinks or more per session). Self-reported rates of alcohol-related harms from one's own and others' drinking were relatively low. Attitudes towards alcohol control varied. A substantial majority supported more police spot checks to detect drinking and driving, while restrictions on the number of alcohol outlets and increases in the price of alcohol were generally opposed. ConclusionThis pilot study demonstrated that the IAC Study survey can be implemented in Canada with some modifications. Future research should assess how to improve participation rates and the feasibility of implementing the longitudinal aspect of the IAC Study. This survey provides additional insight into alcohol-related behaviours and attitudes towards alcohol control policies, which can be used to develop appropriate public health responses in the Canadian context.

Introduction Nous avons mené une évaluation pilote sur la faisabilité de la mise en œuvre de l’étude internationale sur le contrôle de l’alcool (IAC, pour International Alcohol Control) en Ontario (Canada) afin de pouvoir comparer les répercussions des politiques sur le contrôle de l’alcool dans différents pays. Méthodologie Le questionnaire de l’étude IAC a été adapté pour la province de l’Ontario. Les données ont été recueillies selon une approche par échantillon fractionné, au moyend’entrevues téléphoniques assistées par ordinateur réalisées auprès de 500 participants, chaque moitié de l’échantillon répondant à un sous­ensemble de l’enquête adaptée de l’étude IAC. Résultats Un peu plus de la moitié de l’échantillon (53,6 %) a fait état d’une consommation fréquente d’alcool (une fois par semaine ou plus fréquemment) et 6,5 % des répondants ont fait état d’une consommation excessive occasionelle d’alcool élevée (8 consommations ou plus par occasion). Les taux de méfaits liés à l’alcool dont ont fait état les répondants, qu’il s’agisse de leur propre consommation ou de celle des autres, sont demeurés relativement faibles. Les attitudes à l’égard du contrôle de l’alcool étaient variées. La grande majorité des répondants s’est prononcée en faveur d’une augmentation du nombre de contrôles policiers d’alcoolémie pour détecter les cas de conduite avec facultés affaiblies, alors que les restrictions sur le nombre de points de vente d’alcool et l’augmentation du prix de l’alcool ont été généralement rejetées. Conclusion Cette étude pilote a démontré que l’enquête IAC peut être mise en œuvre au Canada après quelques modifications. Les futurs travaux de recherche auront à explorer des moyens d’améliorer les taux de participation et la faisabilité de la mise en œuvre de l’aspect longitudinal de l’étude IAC. Cette enquête fournit des renseignements supplémentaires sur les comportements liés à l’alcool et sur les attitudes à l’égard des politiques de contrôle de l’alcool utilisables pour élaborer des interventions de santé publique propres au contexte canadien.

This study examined the associations of cannabis use, alcohol use and alcohol problems with probable anxiety and mood disorders (AMD) in young, middle-aged and older adults. Method: Data are based on the CAMH Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults aged 18 years and older. For the purposes of the current study, a merged dataset from the years 2001 through 2009 inclusive was separated into three individual datasets: 18-34 year olds (n=4,211), 35-54 year olds (n=7,874), and 55 years of age and older (n=6,778). The survey included the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire, which provides a measure of probable AMD for the general population. Logistic regression analyses examined the odds of probable AMD in three age groups associated with alcohol measures (number of drinks per day and alcohol problems (AUDIT 8+)) and cannabis use, while controlling for self-reported physical health, religious service attendance, and demographic factors. Due to listwise deletion, the logistic regression models were based on reduced samples. Results: Lifetime cannabis use and past year cannabis use predicted probable AMD in young and middle-aged adults, but only lifetime cannabis use predicted probable AMD among older adults. Alcohol problems predicted probable AMD among middle aged and older adults, but not among younger adults. No consistent link between recent alcohol consumption and probable AMD was observed. Conclusion: These analyses suggest that the impact of alcohol and cannabis use and problems on probable AMD may differ across age groups.

The role of medicinal chemistry has changed over the past 10 years. Chemistry had become one step in a process; funneling the output of high-throughput screening (HTS) on to the next stage. The goal to identify the ideal clinical compound remains, but the means to achieve this have changed. Modern medicinal chemistry is responsible for integrating innovation throughout early drug discovery, including new screening paradigms, computational approaches, novel synthetic chemistry, gene-family screening, investigating routes of delivery, and so on. In this Foundation Review, we show how a successful medicinal chemistry team has a broad impact and requires multidisciplinary expertise in these areas.

Background: Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows a robust association with alcohol and cannabis misuse, and these relationships are expressed differently in males and females. Manifestation of specific ADHD symptom profiles, even in the absence of the full disorder, may also be related to problems with alcohol and cannabis, although these relationships have not been investigated in epidemiological studies. To address this question, we studied the sex-specific associations of ADHD symptomatology with problematic alcohol and cannabis use in a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and older residing in Ontario, Canada.Methods: Data were obtained from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey, between January 2011 and December 2013. Respondents (n = 5080) reported on current ADHD symptomatology, measured using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Version 1.1 Screener (ASRS-V1.1) and four additional items, and alcohol and cannabis use, which were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), respectively. Logistic regression analyses were conducted in men and women to test the association of each ADHD symptom cluster (hyperactivity, inattentiveness, impulsivity) with problematic alcohol and cannabis use.Results: After controlling for age, education, and comorbid internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, hyperactive symptoms were associated with problematic alcohol use in both men and women and with problematic cannabis use in men. Impulsive symptoms were independently associated with problematic cannabis use in men. By contrast, inattentive symptomatology predicted problems with alcohol and cannabis only in women. In all models, age was negatively associated with substance misuse and externalizing behavior was positively correlated and the strongest predictor of hazardous alcohol and cannabis use.Conclusions: ADHD symptom expression in adulthood is related to concurrent hazardous use of alcohol and cannabis. Distinctive ADHD symptom profiles may confer increased risk for substance misuse in a sex-specific manner.

Impaired driving is a major source of preventable death in Canada, especially among young adults. Although the effects of alcohol on driving are well known, the impact of driving under the influence of cannabis has not been studied as thoroughly. This human laboratory study examines the impact of an acute dose of smoked cannabis on driving-related skills among young drivers who use cannabis regularly. Participants were weekly smokers between the ages of 19 and 25 years who have had an Ontario class G or G2 license for at least twelve months. Measures of driving simulator performance, cognition, mood, and motor skills were collected before and after a single dose of smoked cannabis containing 12.5% a 9- tetrahydrocannabinol (a 9-THC). Although the data presented are based on an interim analysis of an ongoing study, some measures of subjective drug effects, objective physical measures, and driving simulator performance were found to be significantly altered after drug administration.%%%%M.Sc.

Panama, pais de trânsito para produtores e consumidores de drogas, gera economia emergente, cultura de violencia e maltrato na familia e a comunidade, sendo meninos e dolescentes vulneraveis ao e exposicao prolongada ao abuso de drogas. Para determinar a independencia ou a relacao entre o e abuso de drogas durante a infância e adolescencia em estudantes de uma universidade na cidade do Panama. Metodo quantitativo aplicado, projeto transacional, busca, de amostragem, amostra de 377 alunos de 12 faculdade por aposicao proporcional estratificada. Instrumento aplicado uso de questionario de drogas e experiencias negativas da infância. O teste de qui-quadrado, teste de independencia, encontrado nao independencia entre e abuso de drogas apos o abuso tais como abuso sexual, com p-valor associado 0,021, 95% nivel de confianca, com uma significância de p l 0,05; Eles sao outros determinantes para consumo posterior: mae agredida, separacao ou divorcio dos pais, pares de altos problemas.

Panamá, país de tránsito para productores y consumidores de drogas, generando economía emergente, cultura de violencia y maltrato en la familia y comunidad, siendo niños y adolescentes vulnerables al uso y abuso de drogas por exposición prolongada al maltrato. Se determina independencia o relación entre uso y abuso de droga con el maltrato durante la niñez y la adolescencia en estudiantes en una universidad en la ciudad de Panamá. Se aplicó el método cuantitativo, diseño transeccional, correlacional, muestreo estratificado, muestra de 377 estudiantes de 12 facultades por afijación proporcional. Instrumento aplicado: "Cuestionario Uso de Drogas y Experiencias Adversas de la niñez". La prueba chi-cuadrado, test de independencia, comprobó no independencia entre uso y abuso de drogas posterior al maltrato como abuso sexual, con p-valor asociado 0,021, al 95% nivel de confianza, con significancia de p< de 0,05; determinantes para consumo posterior: madre maltratada, separación o divorcio de padres, pares consumidores.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS:Alcohol pricing is an effective prevention policy. This paper compares the 10 Canadian provinces on three research-based alcohol pricing policies-minimum pricing, pricing by alcohol content and maintaining prices relative to inflation.DESIGN AND METHODS:The selection of these three policies was based on systematic reviews and seminal research papers. Provincial data for 2012 were obtained from Statistics Canada and relevant provincial ministries, subsequently sent to provincial authorities for verification, and then scored by team members.RESULTS:All provinces, except for Alberta, have minimum prices for at least one beverage type sold in off-premise outlets. All provinces, except for British Columbia and Quebec, have separate (and higher) minimum pricing for on-premise establishments. Regarding pricing on alcohol content, western and central provinces typically scored higher than provinces in Eastern Canada. Generally, minimum prices were lower than the recommended $1.50 per standard drink for off-premise outlets and $3.00 per standard drink in on-premise venues. Seven of 10 provinces scored 60% or higher compared to the ideal on indexing prices to inflation. Prices for a representative basket of alcohol products in Ontario and Quebec have lagged significantly behind inflation since 2006.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:While examples of evidence-based alcohol pricing policies can be found in every jurisdiction in Canada, significant inter-provincial variation leaves substantial unrealised potential for further reducing alcohol-related harm and costs. This comparative assessment of alcohol price policies provides clear indications of how individual provinces could adjust their pricing policies and practices to improve public health and safety. [Giesbrecht N, Wettlaufer A, Thomas G, Stockwell T, Thompson K, April N, Asbridge M, Cukier S, Mann R, McAllister J, Murie A, Pauley C, Plamondon L, Vallance K. Pricing of alcohol in Canada: A comparison of provincial policies and harm-reduction opportunities. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:289-297].

The current report compares Canadian provinces across three policy/program dimensions demonstrated to reduce alcohol-related problems among 15–24-year-olds. The dimensions, Legal Drinking Age, Server and Manager Training/Challenge and Refusal Programs, and Drinking and Driving, were assessed using specified indicators with provincial scores reflecting the percentage of the ideal attained. National means for each dimension were also calculated. Legal Drinking Age attained the highest national mean at 75% of the ideal; Server and Manager Training/Challenge and Refusal Programs achieved 61%; Drinking and Driving achieved 34% of the ideal. Results specify how provinces can increase prevention impact through evidence-based policy and program measures.

Direct questions on child maltreatment in population-based surveys are often limited by ethical and methodological issues. This restricts the ability of researchers to examine an important aspect of early adversity and its relationship to health and behavior. An alternative to excluding issues of maltreatment entirely in population-based surveys is to include questions on child and family involvement with child protective services (CPS). A school-based adolescent survey that included a question on child and family involvement with CPS yielded results that were generally consistent with other studies relating child maltreatment to health and behavioral outcomes such as psychological distress symptoms, delinquency, aspects of bullying, and health service utilization. Such findings suggest that questions on involvement with CPS may be a reasonable proxy for child maltreatment. Despite the lack of information on the reason for involvement or specific categories of maltreatment, CPS involvement questions highlight the shared familial experience that surrounds CPS involvement and serves as a general reflection of an adverse experience that can be utilized by researchers interested in early experiences.

In recent years, car club and racing websites and forums have become an increasingly popular way for car enthusiasts to access racing and car club news, chat-rooms and message boards. However, no North American research has been found that has examined opinions and driving experiences of car and racing enthusiasts. The purpose of this study was to examine car club members’ opinions about and experiences with various aspects of driving, road safety and traffic legislation, with a particular focus on street racing. A web-based questionnaire (Survey Monkey) was developed using the expert panel method and was primarily based on validated instruments or questions that were developed from other surveys. The questionnaire included: 1) driver concerns regarding traffic safety issues and legislation; 2) attitudes regarding various driving activities; 3) leisure-time activities, including club activities; 4) driving experiences, including offences and collisions; and 5) socio-demographic questions. The survey was pre- tested and piloted. Electronic information letters were sent out to an identified list of car clubs and forums situated in southern Ontario. Car club participants were invited to fill out the questionnaire. This survey found that members of car clubs share similar concerns regarding various road safety issues with samples of Canadian drivers, although a smaller percentage of car club members are concerned about speeding-related driving. Car club members had varied opinions regarding Ontario’s Street Racers, Stunt and Aggressive Drivers Legislation. The respondents agreed the most with the new offences regarding not sitting in the driver’s seat, having a person in the trunk, or driving as close as possible to another vehicle, pedestrian or object on or near the highway without a reason. The majority disagreed with police powers of impoundment and on-the-spot licence suspensions. About three quarters of respondents reported no collisions or police stops for traffic offences in the past five years. Of those who had been stopped, the most common offence was reported as speeding. This study is the first in Canada to examine car club members’ opinions about and experiences with various aspects of driving, road safety and traffic legislation. Given the ubiquity of car clubs and fora in Canada, insights on members’ opinions and practices provide important information to road safety researchers.

Although the literature suggests that gambling among older adults is influenced by unique age-related factors, there is little information on the factors associated with the experience of gambling-related problems among older adults. The purpose of this study was to identify the sociodemographic health determinants and mental health-related problems, including alcohol and drug dependence, that are associated with the experience of gambling problems among older adults in Ontario. The research was an exploratory analysis of data from Ontario adults, aged 55 and over, who completed the Canadian Community Health Survey - Mental Health and Well-being, Cycle 1.2 (1,904 males and 2,622 females). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify sociodemographic, gambling behaviour, and mental health correlates of the experience of any gambling-related problems, as identified by responses to the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. Being married or living common law and having a higher education level were associated with reduced risk of gambling problems. Among mental health variables, alcohol dependence and any substance dependence significantly increased the odds of reporting a gambling problem. Gambling behaviour measures, such as more frequent gambling, participating in more types of gambling, and spending more on gambling were significant correlates of gambling problems.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cross-border safety impact of extended drinking hours in Ontario. This study used a quasi-experimental comparison time series design. The analysed datasets are monthly casualties for Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan and impaired driving and assault charges for Windsor and London, Ontario pre-post policy change. The findings suggest decreased casualties in Detroit but increased casualties and charges in Windsor post policy change. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference, see ITRD Abstract No. E201067.

The purpose of this review is to estimate the potential impacts of lowering the legal limit in Canada to 50 mg%. Four lines of evidence which are most relevant to estimating the effects of a reduction of the legal BAC limit to 50 mg% are considered. The first is research on the effects of alcohol on the skills and abilities necessary to drive an automobile (i.e., experimental studies). The second line of evidence is epidemiological research on the BAC found among various groups of drivers and the risk of collision involvement at various BACs. The third line of evidence is research on the impact of lowering legal BAC in other countries and jurisdictions. Lastly, other possible impacts of lowering the legal BAC are noted, such as public acceptance, police discretion and possible judicial and penal outcomes. A large number of experimental studies have been conducted on the impact of low doses of alcohol on driving-related skills, and it is clear that the impairing effects of alcohol on the skills necessory to drive safely begin at low BACs and increase with increasing BACs. Epidemiological research has allowed identification of the impact of alcohol consumption on the risk of collision involvement. The studies reviewed suggest that, overall, individuals in the 50 to 80 mg% range are one and half to ten times more likely to be involved in a collision than a person who had not been drinking. Many evaluations of the impact of introducing or lowering a legal BAC limit have been reported. These studies suggest that the maximum impact of a 50 mg% BAC limit could be a 6% to 18% reduction in total motor vehicle fatalities; in other words an estimated decrease of between 185 and 55 fatalities per year in Canada. (A)