Global Courant
All ten provinces and three territories received a fail mark for meeting public health standards for alcohol policies, according to a research project evaluating Canadian alcohol guidelines.
The report of the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation Project (CAPE) and led by the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) at the University of Victoria, found that provincial and federal governments still have more to do to reduce harm from alcohol use in Canada.
Researchers evaluated alcohol policies at the federal and provincial levels, and evaluated each province and territory based on 11 categories, including pricing, taxes, and health and safety messages, among others.
According to the CAPE report, no jurisdiction has achieved a passing grade.
The Northwestern areas scored the lowest at 32 percent, while the highest-scoring region was Manitoba at only 44 percent. The federal government was also assessed on how well the regulations were implemented at the federal level, receiving a score of 37 percent.
Alcohol consumption between the highest and lowest scoring regions was drastic, as the NWT reported 786 standard drinks per person age 15 and older per year, while Manitoba reported an average of 469. According to the Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), a standard drink is a 12-oz bottle of 5% alcohol beer or cider, a 5-oz glass of 12% alcohol wine, 1.5-oz shot glass of 40 percent alcoholic beverages.
On a national scale, there were reportedly 802,023 alcohol-related hospital visits in 2020, 17,098 deaths, and the average standard drink per person was 487.
Canadian alcohol policy evaluation project.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HARM REDUCTION
Canada’s alcohol consumption guidelines recently sparked debate over the new recommendations that warned that while no alcohol is safe to consume, adults should not drink more than two standard drinks per week.
The recently updated recommendations announced this year were a drastic change from the previous recommendations of no more than 15 drinks per week for men and 10 drinks for women; recommendations that had not changed in the last ten years.
However, the CAPE’s recommendations are not aimed at setting a limit on individuals’ alcohol consumption, but rather at implementing regulations that reduce the harms of alcohol through taxation, marketing, and updating criminal penalties.
“This is about more than asking individuals to drink less. Yes, that can be important, but governments need to make changes to the wider drinking environment,” said lead researcher Dr. Tim Naimi in one press release.
Of areas in need of work, CAPE recommends that the federal government increase the federal alcohol sales tax and update the CRTC code to regulate marketing content from the alcohol industry, as there are currently no mandatory investigations of alcohol advertising by an outside authority are.
In addition, the CAPE recommended updates to the criminal code to make it a criminal offense to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) greater than 0.05 percent. Currently, the limit is 0.08 percent or more, although some counties impose non-criminal penalties on drivers with a BAC reading between 0.05 and 0.79, known as the “warning range.”
Canadian alcohol policy evaluation project.
