March 2010

 

Alcohol and Community-based Violence

Alcohol is one of the most widely available psychoactive drugs. While it is commonly associated with violent behaviour, the causal link is not entirely clear despite the fact that alcohol use and violence share common physiological, social, and economic variables. Public concerns about the strength of this linkage highlights the need to gain a better understanding of the contributing factors associated with alcohol-related violence. Therefore, this year the Alcohol Policy Network (APN) focused their research on a systematic review of the growing link between alcohol and violence.

In recent years, numerous stakeholders in public policy have had to acknowledge the challenge of balancing the legality of alcohol with a most unfavourable outcome: violent episodes. It may come as no surprise that those with an investment in social good have had to break their respective silos in an effort to understand this new trend. For example, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has led forums on Nightlife, Drinking and Violence. These forums aimed to inform the various partners of new research, trends, laws, practices, and management techniques to address the challenge of alcohol’s contribution to violence.

In the report, Alcohol and Community-based Violence: A Systematic Review [PDF], APN proposed to identify the associated effects of alcohol sales on community-based violence as explained in the existing literature. A systematic review incorporating journal articles from 1999 – 2009 were used to accomplish this.

The authors reviewed links of violence and alcohol as they relate to over twelve different variables. The paper breaks down each variable as they present their own unique challenge to policy professionals.

Finally, the paper discusses six different possible strategies and 21 recommendations that emerge from a healthy public policy context, which include the Four Pillars — prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement — coupled with concepts introduced in the Ottawa Charter, such as building healthy public policy and strengthening community action/engaging in community mobilization.

 

Impaired Driving Trends

In December 2009, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada released their “Rating the Provinces and Territories” report on impaired driving laws. Every province and territory were critiqued and given a grade ranging from A+ to F. Ontario was graded the highest with an A-.

The MADD reports are released every three years and have been projects of MADD Canada for more than 10 years. Andy Murie, MADD Canada’s CEO explains the rationale: “We have a set of best practices that will result in major improvements in road safety…Failing to implement these critical measures is not an option, particularly when we are faced with increasing rates of impaired driving.”

MADD Canada’s National Director of Legal Policy, Robert Solomon, explains that not all impaired driving programs are created equal. “Some programs are narrow in scope; there are long delays between the enactment of some of the programs and their proclamation in force; and some programs are implemented but the police are not given the authority to enforce them.” Moreover, Professor Solomon argues that there needs to be more comprehensive provincial and territorial reforms with more intense enforcement.

In fact, earlier in 2009 the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights recommended that Canada adopt Random Breath Testing(RBT). Their recommendation is based on the understanding that despite “countless education programs, increasingly onerous penalties, federal amendments, progressive provincial legislation, and the frequent use of sobriety checkpoints, impaired driving remains a persistent and serious problem in Canada.” (Random Breath Testing – MADD Canada’s Response to Charter Concerns [PDF].

MADD Canada has outlined that numerous countries have adopted RBT including some Scandinavian countries, the European Union (EU), New Zealand, and some Australian states. Some of the countries listed have instilled RBT since the mid 1970s, and the EU recommended that all member states introduce RBT legislation.

There are studies that have found some success with RBT, including:

• A 23% cut in total road fatalities in Ireland;
• A 35% reduction in fatal crashes between 1988 and 1992 in Queensland.

That being said, RBT will have its detractors on the grounds that the proposed legislation would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms from the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure (§ 8) and arbitrary detention (§ 9).

To hear more about the news and trends with respect to impaired driving, the Alcohol Policy Network invites you to the March 30th web conference on The Case for Random Breath Testing (RBT) in Canada: Reviewing the Evidence and Challenges. The web conference will outline Canada’s recent impaired driving record, its charge and conviction rates, and the persistence of impaired driving. It will then examine the impact that comprehensive RBT programs have had in comparable countries. Finally, the presentation will review the potential challenges to such legislation, including whether it would be upheld under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.