Alcohol

Alcohol

Consuming alcohol can be linked to a variety of harmful health effects both long-term and short term including damage to your organs, increased risk of cancer, and mental health issues.

Resources for Partners & Professionals

Alcohol poster

 

Alcohol Use Guidance

CCSA has now released Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health previously your Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines.

The updated guidance is to support individuals in making informed decisions about their alcohol use and health, and to ensure understanding that alcohol use comes with risk;

  • There is a continuum of risk associated with weekly alcohol use where the risk of harm is:
    • 0 drinks per week — Not drinking has benefits, such as better health, and better sleep.
    • 2 standard drinks or less per week — You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.
    • 3–6 standard drinks per week — Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.
    • 7 standard drinks or more per week — Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.
    • Each additional standard drink radically increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences.
  • Consuming more than 2 standard drinks per occasion is associated with an increased risk of harms to self and others, including injuries and violence.
  • When pregnant or trying to get pregnant, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use.
  • When breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest.
  • No matter where you are on the continuum, for your health, less alcohol is better.

 

For these guidelines, “a drink” means

  • 341 ml (12 oz.) bottle of 5% alcohol beer, cider or cooler
  • 142 ml (5 oz.) glass of 12% alcohol wine
  • 43 ml (1.5 oz.) serving of 40% distilled

Drink Size Comparison chart

 

Municipal Alcohol Policy

Role of Municipalities in Supporting a Culture of Moderation around alcohol

MAP Infographic

Reducing Alcohol Harms: A Primer for Municipalities in Grey-Bruce

According to the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation (CAPE) project,  “Alcohol use is a leading preventable cause of harms including violence, social problems, road crashes, injuries and chronic disease. While alcohol is often seen as an economic driver in communities, it has significant costs to municipalities in terms of policing, healthcare, and lost productivity. Through healthy public policies and partnerships, local governments can support their communities while reducing negative impacts. 

Municipalities and local governments can play a key role in reducing alcohol’s costs, harms, risks and liability through a variety of tools, such as bylaws related to land use and zoning (e.g. location and density of retail outlets), parks and recreation, sponsorship, public transit, signage, business licenses, regulations about alcohol use on municipal properties (e.g. buildings, parks, beaches), conditions of ‘special occasion permits’, and policing. Municipal policies can also influence provincial and territorial policies through advocacy and leadership as shown by the first smoke-free bylaws that were introduced at municipal level, and subsequently adopted across all provinces and territories.”

Overview of Municipal Alcohol Policy

Why have a policy?

  • to provide guidelines for alcohol use in municipal buildings, and grounds
  • to decrease the risk of alcohol related problems which could result in lawsuits
  • to make the community a safer place

2. Who is involved?

  • municipal staff
  • volunteers
  • rental groups
  • general public
  • police
  • ARF/Health Unit

3. What is an alcohol risk management policy?

  • a strategy to help people understand and reduce alcohol related risks

4. Where are the places that are affected?

  • any municipally owned facilities, buildings, or grounds
  • the policy will state which municipal facilities are included or not
  • parks
  • campgrounds on municipal land
  • libraries
  • town halls
  • firehalls
  • arenas
  • fair grounds
  • part or all of a building, or grounds

5. When do people have a say about the policy?

  • you could represent the community at large or a user group during policy development
  • public meetings are held during the planning process
  • written comments are accepted on the draft before it is approved by council
  • the policy should be reviewed on an annual basis. Suggestions for change can be made at that time.

Resources and Templates to Support Municipal Alcohol Policies

Webinars, training and links to other resources

Alcohol

Throughout pregnancy, there is no safe time to drink alcohol. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can result in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). FASD can result in a range of disabilities and birth defects. For more information on FASD visit; Canadian FASD Research Network.

Resources for information on Alcohol;

Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health

10 smart ways to limit alcohol | Canadian Cancer Society

Alcohol use - Canada.ca

 

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