Dr. Russell Callaghan

Over the last several years, a major line of my research program has focused on estimating the impacts of cannabis use on human health.

This line of research has produced a series of studies assessing the relation between cannabis use (or cannabis-use disorders) and a range of health outcomes, including persistent psychotic syndromes (Callaghan, et al., 2011); mortality patterns (Callaghan, et al., 2012); fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle collisions (Callaghan, et al., 2013); lung cancer (Callaghan et al., 2013);  testicular cancer (Callaghan, et al., 2017); and a systematic review of cannabis use and development of cancer in humans (Callaghan, et al., 2017). Ongoing and future work will assess the relation between cannabis use and the following outcomes: non-traffic injury (e.g., falls, assaults, suicide), all-cause mortality, and workplace injury.

Selected Publications

• Callaghan RC, Cunningham JK, Verdichevski M, Sykes J, Jaffer RS, Kish SJ. All-cause mortality among individuals with disorders related to the use of methamphetamine: A comparative cohort study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012;125(3):290-294
• Callaghan RC, Cunningham JK, Allebeck P, et al. Methamphetamine use and schizophrenia: A population-based cohort study in California. Am J Psychiatry. 2011.
• Callaghan RC, Gatley JM, Veldhuizen S, Lev-Ran S, Mann R, Asbridge M. Alcohol- or drug-use disorders and motor vehicle accident mortality: A retrospective cohort study. Accid Anal Prev. 2013;53:149-155.
• Callaghan RC, Allebeck P, Sidorchuk A. Marijuana use and risk of lung cancer: A 40-year cohort study. Cancer Causes Control. 2013;24(10):1811-1820.
• Callaghan RC, Allebeck P, Akre O, McGlynn KA, Sidorchuk A. Cannabis use and incidence of testicular cancer: A 42-year follow-up of Swedish men between 1970 and 2011. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017;26(11):1644-1652.
• Callaghan RC, Verdichevski, M, Fyfe, T, Gatley, JM. Does cannabis use increase the risk of developing cancer in humans? A review of literature from 2004-2014. In V.R. Preedy (Ed.), Handbook of cannabis and related pathologies: Biology, diagnosis treatment and pharmacology. 2017. London: Elsevier.

Projects

• Assessing the impacts of cannabis legalization on traffic-related injuries among youth and adults in Alberta and Ontario
• Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation
• Effects of COVID-19 on alcohol and cannabis sales and alcohol- and cannabis-related hospitalizations and deaths in BC
• Evaluating the Impact of Minimum Pricing in Saskatchewan on Crime and Health Outcomes
• Managed alcohol and cannabis substitution: A feasibility study

Publications

• Alcohol retail privatisation in Canadian provinces between 2012 and 2017. Is decision making oriented to harm reduction?
• Assessing the impacts of Saskatchewan's minimum alcohol pricing regulations on alcohol-related crime
• Canada’s cannabis legalization and drivers’ traffic-injury presentations to emergency departments in Ontario and Alberta, 2015-2019
• Impacts of Canada's cannabis legalization on police-reported crime among youth: early evidence
• Impacts of drinking-age legislation on alcohol-impaired driving crimes among young people in Canada, 2009-2013
• Impacts of drinking-age legislation on alcohol-impared driving crimes among young people in Canada, 2009-13
• Legalization of Cannabis in Canada: Implementation strategies and public health
• Sales and Revenue from Regulated Cannabis Products in BC: October 2018-December 2020
• Stratégies pour réduire les méfaits et les coûts liés à l’alcool au Canada : Une revue des politiques Fédérales
• Stratégies pour réduire les méfaits et les coûts liés à l’alcool au Canada : Une revue des politiques provinciales et territoriales (sommaire)
• Strategies to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Canada: A Review of Federal Policies
• Strategies to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Canada: A Review of Provincial and Territorial Policies
• The Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation project: Findings from a review of provincial and territorial alcohol policies
• The effect on emergency department visits of raised alcohol minimum prices in Saskatchewan, Canada
• Who consumes most of the cannabis in Canada? Profiles of cannabis consumption by quantity
• “If I knew I could get that every hour instead of alcohol, I would take the cannabis”: need and feasibility of cannabis substitution implementation in Canadian managed alcohol programs