Colourful, highly visible warning labels applied to bottles and cans of alcohol in Yukon’s largest liquor store prompted many people in Canada’s highest-alcohol-consuming region to cut back on their drinking. This was one of the major findings from the Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study—a real-world study of alcohol warning labels led by CISUR in 2017—published this month in a special section of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

A miniaturized laboratory the size of a postage stamp could one day transform how scientists test potential drug treatments and diagnose disease.

Researchers with UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research say warning labels are the best way of communicating alcohol’s health risks.

A new UVic study is looking at the potential effects of combining substances such as alcohol and cannabis during early pregnancy. The work is on the heels of the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in Canada.

The largest medical study of its kind focusing on 1,000s of GP practices in the UK identified a weakness in the prescribing of medicines. UVic economist Felix Pretis and his Oxford co-authors developed a statistical tool that reveals delays in doctors' responses to new drug information.

As Canadians are preparing to fire up the grill for the last big weekend of the summer, it might come as a surprise to hear that we may be consuming as many calories in our beers as we are in our burgers, according to a recent study out of UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

An innovative program designed by a chemist and social worker at the University of Victoria is being piloted at Victoria harm reduction sites to provide a quick, accurate chemical analysis of drugs in order to prevent overdoses while also comparing and evaluating different drug-checking technologies.

Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments could be doing a much better job at implementing policies that reduce alcohol-related harms, according to new reports from the UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments could be doing a much better job at implementing policies that reduce alcohol-related harms, according to new reports from UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

When the BC government began opening overdose prevention sites (OPS) across the province two years ago, it was an unprecedented response to the overdose crisis. Unlike supervised consumption sites (SCS), which were subject to lengthy (and often onerous) approval processes, OPS were rolled out quickly and led by community members on the front lines of the public-health emergency.

BC's approval of overdose prevention sites two years ago was an unprecedented response to the overdose crisis. They were rolled out quickly and led by community members on the front lines of the public-health emergency. Findings from a CISUR study show the strategy's effectiveness.

A managed alcohol program (MAP) provides people who haven’t found success with abstinence-based approaches with pre-measured doses of beer or wine—often paired with housing and other supports—as a way of reducing the harms from alcohol. But do they work? A national study, co-led by Bernie Pauly and Tim Stockwell at UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, is finding out—and so far, signs point to yes.

University of Victoria substance use experts Scott MacDonald and Tim Stockwell are available to media for perspective on the Canadian government's changes to drug-impaired driving laws, including the introduction of mandatory alcohol screening, set to come into force on December 18.

Through research conducted during a co-op work term, biochemistry undergraduate James Saville was able to help a Duncan brewery optimize the recipe for their IPA—determining the best hop type and timing to maximize flavour, while spending less money on the expensive ingredient.

A three-year University of Victoria study of people living homeless or barely housed while struggling with life-threatening medical conditions confirms that when palliative care can be found, it improves the difficult life circumstances and worsening vulnerabilities people face as their health fails.

Substance use costs Canadian society $38.4 billion a year, or almost $1,100 for every person in Canada, according to a new study. The Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms study, produced by UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, examines the costs and harms associated with substance use, and spans four broad areas: health care, lost production, criminal justice and other direct costs.