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Regulatory Policies
and Legal Controls
Dr. Louis
Gliksman, Head  The Regulatory Policies and Legal Controls Section
assesses the impact of policy and legal control initiatives and conducts
research on potential policy options for various levels of government.
We have implemented or completed a number of significant projects this
year. These projects are largely funded from external sources, totalling
about $15 million dollars, and will continue for the next few years.
Antisocial Behaviour, Alcohol and the Automobile
Dr. Reg Smart and Dr. Bob Mann received funding
from the Networks of Centres of Excellence program to support their
work on drunk driving and road rage. One aspect of this work is a comprehensive
analysis of several impaired-driving policy initiatives in Canadian
provinces. They have recently assessed the impact of Ontario's Administrative
Drivers License Suspension law. They found that, since this law was
introduced, there has been a 17 per cent reduction in the proportion
of fatally injured drivers with a blood alcohol content over the legal
limit.
As well, in a comprehensive review of the literature
on road rage, they found that, although scientific literature does not
yet support claims of an epidemic of road rage in modern society, some
findings suggest that road rage may be an important cause of injuries
and deaths on our highways.
Lowering Blood Alcohol Content Limits for Driving
Dr. Mann, Dr. Scott Macdonald and Gina Stoduto
have found that every jurisdiction that has introduced or lowered a
legal blood alcohol content limit for driving saw a reduction in collisions,
injuries and fatalities. Recent studies consistently indicate that a
lowered legal limit can be associated with a lasting reduction in collision
fatalities. Variations in the impact of reduced legal limits may be
due to such factors as levels of awareness and enforcement of the law.
Collaborative World Health Organization Study
on Alcohol and Injuries
Drs. Macdonald and Norman Giesbrecht are the
Canadian investigators of a world-wide, multi-site comparison study,
co-ordinated by the World Health Organization, looking into the relationship
between alcohol and injuries in hospital emergency-room departments.
The intent of the study is to use a common methodology and to draw comparisons
of the relationship across countries.
Driving Records of Clients in Treatment for Alcohol,
Cocaine or Cannabis Use
Dr. Macdonald has received funding from the Canadian
Institute of Health Research for this study. Using data from client
records and traffic violations, the study is looking at the relationship
between traffic violations and people in treatment for alcohol, cocaine
or cannabis use to determine if this group is more prone to traffic
problems. The data collection phase has been completed.
Interdisciplinary Health Research Teams Illicit
Opioid Addiction Study
Drs. Benedikt Fischer and Jürgen Rehm and
their colleagues have begun three of four of the project components
of this national multi-site site study that is funded by the Canadian
Institute of Health Research. These include a multi-site cohort study
with untreated opioid users, meta-analysis on opioid pharmacotherapy
treatments, and an animal studies program. The study is being conducted
in a number of cities in Canada, and will use multiple, interrelated
disciplines to investigate the appropriateness of a variety of opioid
treatment options.
North American Opioid Medications Initiative
The purpose of this study is to determine the
extent to which non-conventional forms of opioid-assisted therapy may
be more successful than conventional oral methadone therapy in recruiting,
retaining, and benefiting chronic, opioid-dependent people who use injection
drugs. Drs. Fischer and Rehm are part of a national team that have recently
received funds from the CIHR to begin this first study its kind in North
America. The study is scheduled to begin this year and to take place
in three Canadian cities.
Drug Treatment Courts in Toronto
Dr. Louis Gliksman and Brenda Newton-Taylor have
received funding for 4.5 years from the Department of Justice (National
Crime Prevention Centre) to evaluate the impact of drug courts in Toronto.
The Drug Treatment Court (DTC) offers a new approach to repeat offenders
based on the notion of restorative justice. This approach also allows
for a unique opportunity for the criminal justice system and treatment
agencies to collaborate, and to actively engage in partnerships with
community agencies, services and organizations. The study has resulted
in a number of sub-projects within the framework of the overall evaluation:
- Using both qualitative and quantitative data,
we are investigating the unique needs and issues of female DTC clients,
involving women from expelled, graduate and comparison groups, as
well as key court members (judge, Crown, duty council, court liaison,
therapists).
- We are conducting a summary of drug court
related literature, focusing on international comparisons, and research/evaluation
issues.
- With DTC judicial collaboration, we will be
conducting a qualitative examination of drug related sentencing alternatives
distributed to a national sample of justices involved with addicted
felons.
Municipal Alcohol Policy and Aboriginal Communities
Dr. Gliksman, Ron Douglas, Margaret Rylett and
Claire Narbonne-Fortin have been adapting the Municipal Alcohol Policy
approach to be culturally appropriate for First Nations Communities.
This adaptation covers three potential environments where alcohol is
used and it has been implemented, in part, in a number of communities
as a demonstration project. We will use the findings from the demonstration
project to develop a research proposal for expanding Community Alcohol
Harm Reduction Policy development to other First Nation communities
in Ontario and Canada.
Alcohol Policy Developments in the U.S.
Drs. Thomas Greenfield and Norman Giesbrecht
have been working on a project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
that focuses on American policy developments with regard to alcohol
advertising, pricing and institutional change and the roles of alcohol
industry, public opinion, research and political change in their outcome.
This study will inform the general public and policy-makers about the
factors that contribute to effective, sustainable alcohol policies in
the American context.
Canadian Alcohol Policy Project
In this project, funded by the National Health
Research and Development Program, Health Canada, Dr. Giesbrecht has
examined several Canadian federal and provincial developments in alcohol
policy, including privatization trends in alcohol retailing at the provincial
level. At the national level, we investigated the effects of changes
in trade, smuggling, proposed warning labels on alcohol bottles, intoxication
as an excuse for violence and deregulation of alcohol advertising controls
as factors that may have aided or hindered the development of these
policies.
Canadian-Nordic Alcohol Policy Project
In this ongoing project, funded by a number of
Scandinavian agencies, Drs. Giesbrecht and Thor Norstrom are conducting
a study that focuses on trends and patterns in access to alcohol and
alcohol policy in Canada and the provinces since 1950. By studying changes
in access, per capita consumption and drinking-related damage using
time series analysis and other methods, they hope to draw out implications
for alcohol policies in the Nordic countries.
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