National Conference for the Addiction Field Examines New Trends and Fresh Approaches to Addressing Addiction in Canada
Montreal, November 16, 2015 — Today marks the start of the Issues of Substance 2015 conference. Led by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) and delivered in partnership with Mise sur toi, this three-day event is Canada’s largest gathering for the addiction field. Experts — including addiction workers, healthcare professionals, researchers, policy makers and knowledge brokers — gather to present new research and advance knowledge, inform policy, change practice and improve services for education, prevention, treatment and recovery. The conference theme is Addiction Matters, this year coinciding with the theme and date of National Addictions Awareness Week.
Addiction matters because it is a chronic health condition that affects every one of us in some way. Binge drinking, impaired driving, prescription drug misuse — Canadians with substance use disorders and their friends, families and communities — millions are touched by the harms of substance misuse and the disease of addiction every single day. The cost to Canada’s health system is profound — $40 billion per year.
The issues of the harms to health from the use of marijuana and the best practices in regulating it have never been so pertinent. These issues and many more, including the effect of take-home naloxone, heroin-assisted treatment, indigenous cultural interventions and low-risk drinking strategies, are among the substantive topics being covered at Issues of Substance this year.
“Addiction matters because it touches us all,” said CCSA Chief Executive Officer, Rita Notarandrea. “Addiction does not discriminate between big city and small town, man and woman, those with healthy incomes and those struggling to make ends meet. That said, with the right interventions and the right treatments, long-term recovery and a person’s return to family, community and the workplace are both attainable and sustainable. Recovery is real.”
“We have come together to take action on addiction matters, to build awareness of the harms associated with alcohol and drugs and addiction — including harms to individuals and costs to their families and our health system. We are also here to challenge and overcome the social stigma that prevents people from seeking the help they need, and to celebrate the role that recovery plays in improving the lives of individuals, families and communities dealing with addiction,” said Robert Eves, conference director and Director, Strategic Partnerships and Knowledge Mobilization, at CCSA.
“The effects of problem gambling can be just as destructive as the abuse of substances on a person’s home life, work life, and ability to be a productive member of society,” said Hubert Sacy, President, Mise sur toi. “The prevention of problematic behaviours, intervention and treatment for those who have problematic gambling issues, and support for recovery are important matters being discussed at the Issues of Substance conference.”
What: Issues of Substance 2015, national conference
When: November 16–18
Where: Hotel Bonaventure, Montreal
Website: www.ccsa.ca/Eng/newsevents/Issues-of-Substance-
Conference/program/Pages/default.aspx Announcements:
- Release of Cannabis Regulation: Lessons Learned from Colorado and Washington State
- Launch of updated report, Collaboration for Addiction and Mental Health Care: Best Advice
- Results of survey findings, evaluating the priorities of the National Framework for Action to Reduce the Harms Associated with Alcohol and Other Drugs and Substances in Canada
The conference program is available on the CCSA website. On Twitter, the conference hashtag is #AddictionMatters in English; #Ladépendanceçacompte in French.
Additional Conference Highlights and Experts Available to Media
| Topic | Presentation (session number) | Date, Time (EST) | Speaker/Expert |
| Marijuana | Report launch: Cannabis Regulation: | Tuesday, | Rebecca Jesseman, |
| Lessons Learned In Colorado and | November 17, | Senior Policy Advisor, CCSA | |
| Washington State (D1) | 10:30–12:00 | (plus other panelists; refer | |
| to the conference program) | |||
| Keynote discussion panel: What Should | Wednesday, | Experts are available to | |
| the Canadian Public Know About | November 18, | speak to health, economic | |
| Marijuana? | 10:30–12:15 | and public safety impacts | |
| Featuring experts from the medical | |||
| cannabis, hospital and university sectors | |||
| (Plenary 3) | |||
| Alcohol | Public Awareness of Alcohol as a | Wednesday, | Dr. Norman Giesbrecht, |
| Carcinogen: Implications and Challenges | November 18, | Senior Scientist Emeritus, | |
| (G3.1) | 8:30–10:00 | Centre for Addiction and | |
| Mental Health (CAMH) | |||
| Girls, Women and Alcohol (National | Wednesday, | Ann Dowsett Johnston, | |
| Roundtable) | November 18, | journalist and addiction | |
| 13:30–16:30 | recovery champion | ||
| Alcohol health harms, consumption | (Topics covered | Dr. Catherine Paradis, | |
| trends, low-risk drinking | throughout IOS | Senior Research and Policy | |
| program) | Analyst, CCSA | ||
| Prescription | Perceptions Among Healthcare | Dr. Amy Porath-Waller, | |
| drug misuse | Professionals of Prescription Drug | Director of Research, CCSA | |
| Misuse (B4.3) | Nancy Poole, BC Centre of | ||
| Women and Prescription Medication | Excellence for Women’s | ||
| Misuse: Strategies for Improving the | Health | ||
| Current System of Care in Canada (B4.2) | Jane Buxton, harm | ||
| Fentanyl Urine Drug Screen: Assessing | reduction lead at BC Centre | ||
| the Prevalence of Fentanyl Use Among | for Disease Control | ||
| Harm Reduction Clients in BC (C3.1) | Dr. Matthew Young, Senior | ||
| Deaths involving fentanyl in Canada, | Research and Policy | ||
| 2009–2014 (report and interview | Analyst, CCSA | ||
| available) |
| Topic | Presentation (session number) | Date, Time (EST) | Speaker/Expert |
| Overdose | Anything to Help Her Awaken: Witness | Tuesday, | Jayne Caldwell, Policy |
| prevention | Actions at Overdose Scenes (D5.2) | November 17, | Development Officer, |
| 10:30–12:00 | Toronto Public Health | ||
| The Effectiveness of British Columbia’s | Monday, | Jane Buxton, harm | |
| Take Home Naloxone Program (A3.2) | November 16, | reduction lead at BC Centre | |
| 10:30–12:00 | for Disease Control | ||
| Gambling | The First Time I Gambled —Adolescents | Monday, | Annie-Claude Savard, |
| and Problematic Gambling (B2.3) | November 16, | Assistant Professor, Laval | |
| 13:15–14:45 | University | ||
| Joël Tremblay, Associate | |||
| Professor, University of | |||
| Quebec | |||
| Gambling Settings and Gambling | Tuesday, | Dr. Sylvia Kairouz, Associate | |
| Behaviours among Undergraduate | November 17, | Professor, Concordia | |
| Student Gamblers (D2) | 10:30–12:00 | University | |
| Treatment | Culture as Intervention in Addiction | Tuesday, | Dr. Colleen Dell, Research |
| Treatment: Applying and Measuring the | November 17, | Chair in Substance Abuse, | |
| Impact of Indigenous Culture in | 13:15–14:45 | University of Saskatchewan | |
| Addictions Treatment (E4.1) | |||
| Outcomes in the Ottawa Drug Treatment | Tuesday, | Paul Welsh, Manager, | |
| Court Program (F3.2) | November 17, | Executive Director, | |
| 15:45–17:15 | Rideauwood Addiction and | ||
| Family Services | |||
| Addiction | “Being Clean Doesn’t Mean You’re In | Monday, | Sarah Sousa, Research |
| Recovery | Recovery” (A2.2) | November 16, | Associate, Homewood |
| 10:30–12:00 | Research Institute | ||
| Recovery from What? Challenges | Wednesday, | Katrina J. Barber, Graduate | |
| Related to Substance Use in Initiatives | November 18, | Student, Centre for | |
| to End Homelessness (G4.1) | 8:30–10:00 | Addictions Research of BC | |
| Faces and Voices of Recovery; the | Recovery | Annie McCullough, | |
| Recovery vision | sessions | Executive Director, Faces | |
| throughout the | and Voices of Recovery | ||
| conference | Canada | ||
Media Requests and Registration
Media contacts: Tina Barton (English), 613-316-0796, Lamia Charlebois (French), 514-279-4601.
Media interviews can be arranged in advance of the conference by emailing media@ccsa.ca with your request.
Media are also invited to attend Issues of Substance. Advance RSVPs are appreciated and can be sent to media@ccsa.ca. Onsite, accredited media are to identify themselves at the registration desk to receive their media pass, which must be visible at all times
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