Alcohol is Canada’s biggest drug problem. So why aren’t people getting help?
2026-09-28 from cbc.ca
A national study conducted by researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), published earlier this year in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that alcohol causes more harm overall than any other drug in the country, far more even than non-prescription opioids or tobacco.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) says around nine people die in Canadian hospitals each day from harm caused by alcohol. Daily hospitalizations for alcohol number 280, compared to 84 for opioids, it says.
On top of that, nearly 18 per cent of people aged 15 years or older in Canada will meet the clinical criteria for an alcohol-use disorder in their lifetime. Still, some doctors and other advocates say people struggling with alcohol aren’t getting treatment options that are backed by science.
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