Individual, family, and small group counselling is available to people of all ages who are directly or indirectly affected by alcohol and other drug use by calling the 24-hour BC Alcohol and Drug Information and Referral Service.
Drug-related overdoses and deaths have become a very serious concern in the last year in B.C. It can happen to someone you know. Learn more about signs of an overdose, what to do, how to prevent overdoses, resources and answers.
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On this page there is also a list of methadone clinics in British Columbia sorted alphabetically by city name.
The Cannabis Act is designed to better protect the health and safety of Canadians, to keep cannabis out of the hands of youth and to keep profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime.
To learn more about the Cannabis Act, in effect as of Octorber 17, 2018, and the health effects of cannabis, visit:
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Evidence. Engagement. Impact.May 24, 2026 | - "Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that embedding addiction treatment into primary care training clinics may be a promising approach to addressing substance use disorders (SUDs)."
read complete story.... Source - medicalxpress.com : https://medicalxpress.comMay 6, 2026 | - "Dopamine has a time-bending effect on the brain. You know the saying: Time flies when you’re having fun."
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Ottawa, August 25, 2010 - As drug-impaired driving becomes an issue of greater public concern, enforcement efforts based on solid research and evidence are becoming increasingly necessary. To this end, senior researchers from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) presented leading research on drugs and driving at the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (ICADTS), held August 22-26 in Oslo, Norway.
The three different studies presented by CCSA indicate that drug use amoung drivers is as common as alcohol use, that a significant number of fatal car crashes involve the use of drugs by drivers, and that there are opportunities to streamline and improve the effectiveness of the system used to identify drug impairment amoung drivers.
Drug use is just as common as alcohol use among drivers, with 10.4 percent of drivers testing positive for drug use and 8.1 percent testing positive for alcohol, according to the Alcohol and Drug Use Among Drivers: British Columbia Roadside Servey 2008. Presented by Douglas J. Beirness, CCSA Senior Research and Policy Analyst and Advisor, the survey was the first to simultaneously collect data on both drug and alcohol use among drivers. A second in-depth roadside survey on impaired driving was conducted in June 2010.
The rate of driving after drug use is more prevalent than originally thought, and the 2008 and 2010 surveys provide us with a baseline assessment to evaluate any changes introduced to deal with the problem
said Beirness. Illegal, prescription and some over-the-counter drugs can have serious effects on a variety for mental and motor abilities. As many of these abilities are critical to the safe operation of a motor vehicle, there is a real need for an impaired driving awareness campaign that is inclusive of both alcohol and drugs
Additional research presented by Beirness, A Comparison of Drug and Alcohol-involved Motor Vehicle Driver Fatalities,
examined more than 14,000 driver fatalities in Canada during 2000-2006. Researchers found that 33 percent of drivers tested positive for at least one drug and 38 percent tested positive for alcohol. The most common drugs found in the blood of fatally injured drivers are depressants, stimulants and cannabis.
The results also reveal that fatal crashes involving drugs differ substantially from those involving alcohol. (For example, whereas alcohol-involved fatal crashes tend to occur on weekends and late at night, drug-related fatal crashes are more likely to occur during daylight hours throughout the week.) The research provides new evidence-based information to shape the development of prevention efforts and road safety. It could also allow enforcement officers to better identify drug-involved crashes, and follow a course of action to investigate and prosecute those responsible.
In response to the increased concern from public health and road safety officials, the federal government passed Bill C-2 that empowers Canadian police who suspect a driver of being impaired by any drug - illegal, prescription or over the-counter -- to conduct a Standardized Field Sobriety Test. If the driver is impaired, they must submit to a mandatory Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) assessment - a standardized 12-step process that requires them to provide a bodily fluid sample.
The DEC assessment is conducted by Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) - police officers who have undergone intensive and specialized training. Research conducted by CSA has demonstrated that DREs are 95 percent accurate in identifying the categories of drugs responsible for the impairement.
An extensive procedure that takes approximately 45 minutes to complete, the DEC assessment requires a DRE to analyze more than 100 pieces of information, including observations documented on divided-attention tests and various clinical indicators such as body temperature, pulse rate and the condition of the eyes.
In an effort to simplify the process, Dr. Amy Porath-Waller, CCSA Senior Research and Policy Advisor, presented research that analyzed DEC cases to identify whether a core set of signs and symptoms could be used to predict the categories of drugs used by suspected drug-impaired drivers. The study, Simplifying the Process for Identifying Drugs by Drug Recognition Experts,
confirmed that DREs could focus on a limited set of clinical indicators without significantly compromising the accuracy of their drug evaluations. Indicators related to the eyes were found to be particularly informative.
Simplifying the process of drug evaluation may lead to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the DEC program and improving the enforcement of drug-impaired driving
said Dr. Porath-Waller. The information on these clinical indicators in conjuction with what the DRE observes will contribute to an accurate assessment of drug impairment.
Enforcement is only one component of an overall stategy to tackle the persistent and growing problem of drug-impaired driving. Although there is much to be learned from years of experience in the area of drinking and driving, societal attempts to control drugged driving must recognize the substantial differences that exist and develop and innovative approach to deal with this issue. We also need a national drug-impaired driving awareness campaign that is supported by a specific and targeted enforcement strategy using latest evidence-based drug identification and assessment approaches.
About CCSA: With a legislated mandate to reduce alcohol-/other drug-related harms, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) provides leadership on national priorities, fosters knowledge translation with the field, and creates sustainable partnerships that maximize collective efforts, CCSA receives funding support from Health Canada.
Yasmina Pepa, Communications Advisor, CCSA
Tel.: (613) 235-4048 ext. 276
Mobile: (613) 866-3303
Email: ypepa@ccsa.ca
Every year more than a million people in the world are killed in traffic crashes, and many millions more are injured. Besides the heavy and tragic burden on those directly affected, there is an enormous economic impact, costing countries between 1 percent and 4 percent of their GNP. Driving is a very complex task, requiring the cooperation of several different cognitive and psychomotorfunctions at once. Crashes can be the consequences of many different factors, which can be classified into three categories: the road, the vehicle and the driver. A crash is rarely attributable to only one factor, meaning that it is very difficult to determine precisely to what percentage of crashes alcohol or drugs have contributed.
The effects of drugs on performance can be studied by means of experimental studies, in which different doses of a certain drug are administered to volunteers, and the effects on performance are measured and compared to a placebo or a positive control. The perfomance of the volunteers can be evaluated by means of tests that assess the different psychomotor and cognitive functions, by means of tests in a driving simulator, or by real
driving tests [1-3].
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. Many studies have already been performed to determine the effects of acute alcohol ingestion on cognitive functions and driving performance. These studies found that numerous driving-related skills are degraded beginning at low blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). Several skills have been shown to decrease with increasing BAC, such as prolongation of reaction time performances and lowering of coordination performance [4-5]. (For further information, see also Alcohol.)
A cannabis user feels euphoria, relaxation and increased social interaction, with frequent laughing, and experiences changes in perception (visual, audible, sensory or time perception). The users are aware of the effects of the drug, and this awareness increases with higher doses. Cannabis acutely reduces some cognitive and psychomotor skills such as learning, equilibrium, coordination, tracking ability, memory, perception, motor impulsivity and vigilance, and these effects are mostly dose-dependent [6-7].
Cannabis can also have an effect on behaviour. The influence of cannabis on human risk-taking is unclear. The results of experiments in laboratory settings are contradictory, while in some driving studies (with rather low doses), users are aware of the impairment and often compansate their driving style by driving more slowly, overtaking less, or keeping longer distances from other vehicles. Nevertheless, the driver is still unable to completely compensate for the loss of capability in some psychomotorskills [8].
Some deleterious effects of cannabis appear to be additive or even synergistic with those of alcohol, and the combination of both substances results in a prolongation as well as enhancement of their effects. Driving studies revealed that drivers under the influence of both alcohol and cannabis were less attentive to traffic approaching from the side streets, while the use of either cannabis of alcohol (at low doses) had no effect [9], and the combination of cannabis and alcohol generated an additional decrement in control of lateral deviation on top of the decrement caused by either cannabis or alcohol [10]. The detrimental effects of other drugs such as cocaine can also be reinforced by additional intake of cannabis [11]. (For further information , see also Cannabis.
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