Drug and alcohol

Binge Drinking Among Youth in Québec: Portrait and Evolution from 2000 to 2012

Alcohol use and the many social and health issues associated with it are public health concerns. The impact of alcohol depends primarily on the total volume of alcohol consumed and the pattern of drinking, particularly drinking a large quantity on a single occasion (WHO, 2009).

This work has allowed us to develop a current profile of binge drinking among youth in Québec who drink alcohol and to examine the trends and changes over time in this consumption pattern from 2000 to 2012.

These initial results indicate that just under a third of young drinkers in Québec engaged in binge drinking in 2011-2012. This phenomenon affects males much more than females, regardless of age.

Although many young drinkers started to drink excessively at around the age of 18, this behaviour was already present in young males of 14-15 years and in young females of 16-17 years of age. However, it is young adults of 22-23 years of age who are most likely to binge drink…

Opioid-related Poisoning Deaths in Québec: 2000 to 2009

Prescription opioid use has increased in Québec in recent years. In view of the serious consequences stemming from drug misuse in this pharmacological class, it is possible that the increase has affected the temporal trend in opioid-related poisoning deaths.

Objectives

Determine the opioid-related poisoning death rates in Québec and describe the temporal evolution of the phenomenon by age, gender of the deceased, manner of death, and type of opioid involved.

Method

Type of study and population

A retrospective trend analysis of poisoning-related death rates from 1990 to 2009 in the population 20 years of age or over.

Data

The death registry of the Registre des événements démographiques and the computerized database of the Bureau du coroner en chef du Québec.

Statistical analysis

A Joinpoint Regression analysis used to determine whether significant chang…

Alcohol Consumption and Public Health in Québec: Summary

Alcohol consumption is a public health issue because it causes many health and social harms:

  • Alcohol consumption is associated with deaths, chronic diseases, cancers, injuries, violence, mental health problems, addiction and social problems.
  • In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that alcohol was the third leading risk factor for mortality and morbidity in developed countries, after smoking and high blood pressure. In North America, alcohol accounts for 14.2% of the burden of disease in men and 3.4% in women. In Québec, 1.8% of deaths are attributable to alcohol.
  • Total alcohol-related healthcare costs are approximately the same as revenue from alcohol sales in Québec; in 2002 in the province, over $3 billion in costs were attributable to alcohol, the equivalent of $416 per inhabitant. Healthcare costs represent 22% of this total, that is, $651 million; this is about equal to the net income from alcohol sales for that year.

Report on the relevance of supervised injection sites: critical analysis of the literature

Given that certain questions have been raised regarding the results of studies on the effects of SISs, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) has taken the initiative of carrying out a critical analysis of these studies.

The objective of this report is to evaluate the relevance of establishing supervised injection sites in the province of Québec. It is based on a critical analysis of the scientific research carried out to date on the effects of SISs and on a review of the literature on the related ethical and legal issues as well as on acceptability and operational factors related to such sites.

Cree Health Survey 2003, Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.1, Iiyiyiu Aschii: Lifestyles related to alcohol consumption, drugs and gambling

The survey was conducted during the summer of 2003 using a representative sample of residents aged 12 and older from the nine communities in Iiyiyiu Aschii: Chisasibi, Eastmain, Mistissini, Nemaska, Oujé- Bougoumou, Waskaganish, Waswanipi, Wemindji, and Whapmagoostui.

Alcohol consumption

  • Somewhat more than half (54%) of Iiyiyiu Aschii residents are current drinkers.
  • Among these drinkers there are mostly men (61%) and young adults from 18 to 29 years of age (80%).
  • A majority of separated, divorced, or widowed persons fall into the current drinkers group (64%), while persons in traditional or common-law marriages as well as those who have never been married are almost evenly divided between current drinkers and former drinkers.
  • Between 1991 and 2003, the proportion of current drinkers rose from 49% to 53% in Iiyiyiu Aschii. The proportion of people who have never consumed alcohol, on the other hand, has fallen considerably over the…

Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Alcohol, Drug Use and Gambling Among the Inuit of Nunavik: Epidemiological Profile

Alcohol and drug use

The Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, conducted throughout the 14 communities of Nunavik in autumn 2004, provides an update of the alcohol and drug use descriptive profile of the population aged 15 and over and identifies the sociodemographic characteristics associated with substance use.

In Nunavik in 2004, the proportion of drinkers was 77%, which is lower than the rate observed in Canada and in Quebec. This rate, however, represents an increase of almost 17% in Nunavik compared with 1992. Globally, the prevalence of drinkers is higher among participants under the age of 45, who are more educated, who have a job and who live in a community that permits the sale of alcohol.

Heavy drinking (five drinks or more on a single occasion) is widespread in Nunavik with close to 9 out of 10 consumers having drunk heavily at least once in the year preceding the survey, a rate that is two times higher than that observed in southern Quebe…

Infectious diseases surveillance among injection drug users - Epidemiology of HCV from 1997 to 2003 - A retrospective look

SurvUDI is a network for the epidemiological surveillance of human immunodeficiency virus infection among injection drug users. The network was established in 1995, and covers eight districts in Québec, and Ottawa. Individuals who participate report injecting drugs during the six preceding months and are recruited mainly through centres that provide access to sterile injection equipment. A two-part study on hepatitis C (HCV) was appended to the SurvUDI network. This report presents the results of the epidemiological component; the psychosocial component will be discussed in a subsequent report.

Groupe d'étude SurvUDI

Infectious diseases surveillance among injection drug users - Epidemiology of HIV from 1995 to 2004 - Epidemiology of HCV from 2003 to 2004

As of June 30, 2004, 14,773 questionnaires had been administered to 8,964 individuals (Table 1).

Three-quarters of participants are men (6,542/8,964) with an average age of 33. The average age of female participants is 28 (Table 1).

Educational levels are low, with only one in four (269/1,105) participants having completed high school (Table 3; 2003-04 data).

Cocaine is the injection drug most often used (88% of the 8,939 respondents had used cocaine), followed by heroin at 36% (Table 5). Cocaine is also the drug most frequently injected by 75% (6,639/8,897) of participants (Table 9).

Injection drug use varies a lot by region (Table 5). While cocaine is the most pervasive drug in all regions (84-98% of respondents in each region), heroin use is particularly widespread in Montreal (53% of 3,994 respondents), as is dilaudid in Quebec City (10% of 2,420 respondents), non-prescription morphine in Ottawa (35% of 1,367 respondents), and PCP in Saguenay-Lac-…

Groupe d'étude SurvUDI

Status Report on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Québec

The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is likely to cause what is considered the most frequent preventable birth defect. This defect is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which is a complex problem closely related to alcoholism and substance abuse among women. Described for the first time some 35 years ago, this syndrome has since been the subject of many studies conducted for the purpose of providing insight into its specific nature, documenting its prevalence or identifying ways to prevent it and help those who are afflicted with it. This research was conducted primarily in North America, but also in some European countries. Canada’s contribution to developing knowledge in this area should be pointed out.

In December of 2003, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec was mandated by the Minister of Health and Social Services to produce a status report on FAS. In response to this request, this report describes the current state of knowledge in Québec, and its situat…