“We’ve seen this playbook before with the tobacco industry trying to discredit science around smoking’s harms." -CISUR's Tim Stockwell

"After the initial test is conducted, data is sent to Substance Drug Checking in Victoria, which will provide a detail breakdown of the sample’s contents, with percentages. This information is expected to be available within a week, and will be provided to clients, explained Rai."

New paper alert: Alcohol lobbying in Canada: a quantitative analysis of the federal registry of lobbyists academic.oup.com/heapro/artic... The paper, published in Health Promotion International, examined lobbyist registrations in the Canadian Federal Registry of Lobbyists from May 2022-May 2023.

"These findings highlight the need for strategies to mitigate potential harm in low SES groups and the widening of existing inequities."

Only one more week to apply for the new Samit & Resha Sharma Scholarship! If you're a #UVic Graduate Student doing research in substance use and/or mental health, apply here by September 15: www.uvic.ca/graduatestud...

“The key message is that drinking two drinks a day may be moderate from a social perspective, but when it comes to health, it’s a pretty risky amount." CISUR's Tim Naimi in @nytimes.com. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/h...

Alcohol's Collateral Damage: Harms From Others' Drinking Are Linked to Academic and Mental Health Challenges Among U.S. College Students (new #openaccess in @jsadjournal.bsky.social 86/5) @argdotorg.bsky.social @publichealthinst.bsky.social @publichealthumd.bsky.social www.jsad.com/doi/full/10....

"For this story, I spoke with three of the six authors of the study: Martinez, Keyes, and co-author Tim Naimi, an alcohol researcher affiliated with @uvic.ca and Boston University. They all emphasized that they had sought to conduct a study that would fairly represent America’s alcohol consumption."

NEW ISSUE @cjphrcsp.bsky.social Volume 116, Issue 3 Special Section on the Public Health Response to the Overdose Crisis in Canada link.springer.com/journal/4199...

“The Tyee is just learning about this now because it took 16 months for the Vancouver Police Department to release requested data about how many of its officers were trained on decriminalization.” thetyee.ca/News/2025/08...

“I do believe the change in public sentiment is a good reflection of the change in science — and that the risks of alcohol, in what some people might have previously considered low levels, are higher than previously appreciated." -CISUR Director Tim Naimi www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

ICYMI: Study from @uviccisur.bsky.social using data from over 147K Canadians from 2000-2017 shows alcohol has: ❌ No health benefits ⬆️ Dose-response relationship with all-cause & alcohol-related mortality Supports Canada's reduction in Low-Risk Alcohol Advice. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

This short video is a couple years old & worth a re-share, IMHO. A lot of misinformation is circulated about prescribed alternatives & this lays out some of the facts plainly. As we approach #IOAD25, it's worth taking the time to understand the many ways #HarmReductionWorks youtu.be/iRuXM8aS-4U

"Two public gatherings in Victoria this month will honour lives lost to toxic drug poisonings and call for stronger action to address the ongoing crisis." Aug 17: BC Legislature Aug 31: Broad View United Church (3703 St Aidans St.). More info: www.vicnews.com/local-news/g...

A record-low 54% of Americans say they consume alcohol.

Webinar series: Alcohol policy in Canadian municipalities...launching early September 2025! More info and registration: onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/municipalalc...

"We need to shift the focus from individual behavioural factors to see how broader social and structural conditions affect people’s health, and design policies to address these."

Latest BC Coroners Service data: at least 145 and 147 illicit drug deaths in May and June, respectively (about 5 deaths/day). New data on occupation industry:

"There's been a shift in the awareness out there in the public … about the health impacts," -CISUR's Tim Stockwell. www.cbc.ca/news/health/...

New @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social paper featuring CISUR researchers: "Exploring models of #safersupply provision: A qualitative study on the preferences of people who access the unregulated drug market" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Are you an academically outstanding #uvic grad student whose focus of research builds and supports community-wide knowledge that promotes wellbeing with reference to substance use and mental health? Apply for the new Samit & Resha Sharma Scholarship! Open until Sept 15. www.uvic.ca/graduatestud...

“It’s a particularly precarious time for violent incidents to occur, and if people are inebriated, they don’t deal with conflicts as well,” said Stockwell. www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/va...

The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) critiques of alcohol research: Promoting health benefits and downplaying harms

"Every year in Ireland, about 1,000 people will get a diagnosis of cancer which arises from alcohol. So, we're talking now about a four-year delay. That's 4,000 more people who will be getting that diagnosis." [email protected] www.rte.ie/news/2025/07...

"Lifelong patterns of alcohol use can begin in college, and findings indicate that state alcohol policies are a foundation on which community- and campus-level preventive efforts can build."

"Studies supporting an industry-friendly narrative were ten times more likely to receive a positive review from International Scientific Forum on [industry-linked] Alcohol Research than those suggesting otherwise," found a new study. @uviccisur.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

If you’re heading to a festival this summer, take time to plan ahead. WILD Collaborative Harm Reduction Services makes it easier to stay safe. Find them at: - Pachena Bay Music Festival - Sunfest Country - Laketown Amphitheatre - Phillips Backyard - Rifflandia Learn more: ow.ly/4VZr50WnYzA

“Evidence for harms from alcohol has been with us for decades and has only strengthened,” said Stockwell. “Commercial vested interests have always dominated the policy sphere.” www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/07/08/g...

Three expert reports. Three very different conclusions about alcohol and health. Why the confusion? In our latest blog, Stockwell, Priore & @beckyim.bsky.social unpack the methods behind the headlines - and show how alcohol’s risks keep being downplayed. www.ias.org.uk/2025/07/09/a...

“We’ve seen this playbook before with the tobacco industry trying to discredit science around smoking’s harms.” -CISUR scientist Tim Stockwell.

"The letter — signed by eight people from organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation Project — has been sent to Premier Tim Houston and members of the legislature." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Getting whiplash? A short guide to recent contradictory reports on moderate alcohol use & health (new @jsadjournal.bsky.social FastTakes) "strong grounds for skepticism about health benefits from low-volume alcohol use" @uvic.ca @uviccisur.bsky.social @oxpop.bsky.social www.jsad.com/do/10.15288/...

More alcohol, more harm. CPHA urges Nova Scotia to stop plans to expand alcohol sales to convenience stores. Increased access means more illness, more hospital visits, and more deaths. We need smarter alcohol policy—not more outlets. www.cpha.ca/ns-alcohol-e... #PublicHealth #HarmReduction

Vancouver city council votes to allow supervised inhalation sites. Smoking is now the most common method of drug consumption, by @andreawoo.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com #HarmReduction #ToxicDrugCrisis

“We now suffer the moral distress of being medical experts in this field who are essentially forced to be handmaidens to a government policy that will cause more death. And not just death in the abstract — death of people we personally know and have cared for for years.”

"U.S. Dietary Guidelines are expected to eliminate the long-standing recommendation that adults limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day", according to @reuters.com. As the article states, this would be "a major win" for the alcohol industry. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

🎨 Deadline is MONDAY! Submit your entry for the 2025 Brain Art Contest by June 16th at 4:00pm! Theme: Community & Mental Health All ages, all art forms welcome — no experience needed! Age Categorized Prizes + People’s Choice Awards will be awarded! 📩 More info: www.uvic.ca/research/cen...

New publication alert! "Provincial and territorial results and recommendations from the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation project: Room for improvement," in @cjph_rcsp link.springer.com/art.../10.17...

One of the most important conversations to have right now around the #toxicdrugcrisis - the "moral panic" that stops us from acting on evidence. Terrific panel from the 2nd event of Peers Victoria's speaker series on the crisis. youtu.be/dRL7H6bTmzM?... @karenurban.bsky.social @jenbowles.bsky.social

"European Heart Network formally recognises alcohol as a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and rejects any claim that alcohol consumption, at any level, offers cardiovascular benefits," the Brussels NGO said today in a position paper. ehnheart.org/news-events/...

“We really wanted to have a conversation about the intersections between brain injury, mental health and addictions, ‘cause we notice it’s very common, but not so common to talk about it.” Dr. Mario Garcia-Barrera. @uvic.ca

"The analysis suggests that industry actors can strategically adapt their arguments to varying institutional settings and policy instruments, demonstrating their political dexterity and reinforcing the barriers to policy progress." globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

🎨 Submissions open! Join the 2025 Brain Art Contest & Showcase: Community & Mental Health. Open to all ages & art forms. Deadline: June 16th. More info here: uvic.ca/research/centres/aging/events/brainart2025/index.php #BrainArt2025 #MentalHealth #ArtTherapy

"At the B.C. Supreme Court, Justice Blake is expected to hear from 13 patients or their family members and six experts called by the plaintiff, while lawyers for the provincial attorney-general are expected to call their own involuntary patients and a host of experts to support the current system."

For people starting safe supply, median time to discontinuation was 268 days—versus 103 days for those on methadone, according to a groundbreaking Ontario study. This difference contributed to equal benefits by most measures. @maddidellplain.bsky.social reports:

New @harmreductionintl.bsky.social paper featuring CISUR researchers! "A pilot evaluation of #managedalcohol programs operating in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic" harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

"When you have a drink, your body turns the ethanol that’s present in the alcoholic beverage into a 'really nasty substance' called acetaldehyde, which can damage your DNA, said Timothy Stockwell, an alcohol researcher at the University of Victoria." via @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/w...

🔎Special Issue Alert🔍 Advances in understanding and addressing health-related harms among people who use drugs. SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS COMING UP: May 31st, 2025! Get your papers in for this super cool collab between @inhsu.bsky.social & us! Link: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

CISUR's Dr. Tim Naimi was recently a guest on @baycrest.bsky.social's #defydementia podcast, talking about alcohol's impact on #brainhealth. You can listen to the full episode here: www.baycrest.org/podcast/epis... @uvic.ca #uvic

"Findings suggest SOS [safer opioid supply] programmes play an important, complementary role to traditional opioid agonist treatment in expanding the options available to support people who use drugs." www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...