Talking Point: Successes and challenges in reducing the harms of substance use - lessons learned from the Canadian experience

This talk provides an overview of substance use trends in Canada over the last 10 years, including some of the unique challenges faced by Canada in regards to the collection of relevant data. Specific areas of focus include a discussion of the recent history of the current opioid crisis in Canada as well as findings from a recently released report on the economic burden of substance use in Canada.

The presentation also includes a discussion regarding the similarities and differences between substance use trends, policies, and interventions in Australia and Canada – with a focus on any lessons that they may learn from each other.

Dr. Matthew M. Young, Ph.D, is a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) and an Adjunct Research Professor of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Matthew leads CCSA’s drug use epidemiology research activities, which includes work to estimate the economic burden of substance use in Canada, Canada’s early warning sentinel surveillance system, as well as CCSA’s work on Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS). He also co-chairs the scientific committee tasked with developing Low Risk Gambling Guidelines.