On June 2nd, a webinar was hosted that explored changes in alcohol-related policy over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics included why alcohol has sometimes been framed as an “essential good,” arguments for and against making alcohol easier to access during government-enforced lockdowns, and what the likely consequences are of various policy changes that have taken place in Canada.
View the webinar recording here (47 min. including Q&A)
Presenters:
- Jean-François (JF) Crépault is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He leads CAMH’s public policy efforts in the area of substance use, developing and communicating evidence-based public policy to government and other stakeholders. He is also a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, where his research focuses on public health approaches to the regulation of psychoactive substances.
- Dr. Catherine Paradis is a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). Catherine has been working in the field of alcohol for over 20 years and leads CCSA’s alcohol research activities which includes studies to document drinking patterns that bring youth to the emergency departments and the impact of alcohol promoting and advertising on alcohol use. Catherine was one of the experts responsible for producing Canada’s 2011 Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines. She currently co-chairs the project to update the Guidelines. She holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Montreal.
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This webinar was co-hosted by Evidence Exchange Network (EENet), within the Provincial System Support Program at CAMH, and by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). It follows the webinar Alcohol consumption, harms, and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted on March 10, 2022.