The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse is based in Ottawa, Ontario and has been around for over 25 years. Its genesis was in a piece of federal legislation created in the 1980’s, called the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse Act.
According to its website, the Centre’s vision is “that all people in Canada live in a healthy society free of Alcohol- and other drug-related harm”. Their mission is “to provide national leadership and advance solutions to address alcohol- and other drug-related harm.”
One of the ways they have attempted to address and minimize alcohol-related harm is to create Canada’s Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines in 2011, which have since been widely distributed and disseminated. These guidelines contain very specific information about what constitutes a standard drink e.g. 1.5 oz of distilled alcohol (or what we think of as hard liquor) such as gin; 5 oz of wine, etc., along with general recommendations for safer drinking practices such as setting personal limits for alcohol consumption and sticking to them.
The CCSA also proudly sponsors Recovery Day events across Canada every September. This year, thanks to increased advocacy and growing publicity, thirty Canadian cities are participating. They are: Barrie, Calgary, Chase, Chatham-Kent, Edmonton, Fredericton, Goderich, Hamilton, London, Lloydminster, Moncton, Montreal, Newfoundland, North Bay, Okanagan, Ottawa, Owen Sound, Peterborough, Prince Albert, Red Deer, Regina, Richmond, Saint John, Saskatoon, Sault Ste Marie, Saskatoon, Stratford, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, and Windsor.
The CCSA website provides a vast array of information, statistics and reports on a wide variety of substance-related topics, including alcohol, prescription drugs, treatment and recovery, and special populations including children and youth. It also explores concurrent disorders, which are the co-occurrence in one person of a mental illness and addiction at the same time, and notes that in 2008 concurrent disorders were highlighted as a problem requiring increased focus in their National Framework for Action.
Please visit http://www.ccsa.ca and http://www.recoverydaycanada.com to learn more.
