Alcohol and cannabis sales across Canada rose by over $2.6B during the pandemic, study suggests
CBC
Sales of alcohol and cannabis in Canada overshot predictions by over $2.6 billion over the course of the pandemic, according to new research.
The research from Hamilton's McMaster University, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and the Homewood Research Institute was published Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.
The team used Statistics Canada data to look at alcohol and cannabis sales from March 2020 to June 2021, then compared that information to the 16 previous months, said James MacKillop, director of McMaster's Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research.
The findings showed alcohol sales were 5.5 per cent over projected sales, which means people bought $1.86 billion more in alcohol than predicted pre-pandemic. Cannabis sales were 25 per cent more than expected, equalling an additional $811 million.
MacKillop said the research suggests that as we come out of the pandemic, we should plan to deal with increased issues around substance abuse.
"We have to be careful about not going over our skis for this data," he said, "but I think it's important for planning, for resourcing.
"These sales figures give us clues into potential changes in behavioural patterns and can inform planning to address mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic."
Those in the addictions field agree.
Leslie Buckley, chief of addictions at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, says the pandemic made people more stressed and isolated — a "perfect storm for increasing substance use."
"People were spending a lot more time at home and being bored, having a blur of the weekdays and the weekend," Buckley said.
"We shouldn't let this go by us without thinking long and hard about the implications. I think this is an early warning signal, a red flag."
Ryan Kitchen, program manager at Wayside House of Hamilton, which operates a 24-bed addictions and 36-bed sober living home, isn't surprised by the new figures.
Wayside House's wait list is usually about three months, he said. During the pandemic, the home had to cut the number of beds to abide by pandemic protocols, and the wait grew to six months.
The pandemic impact highlights why more resources need to be put into addiction treatment, he said. Wayside House is nearly back at capacity, but it's been "a long, slow process."
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