Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Alcohol and cannabis sales in Canada saw a notable increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research has found — signalling a possible "early warning" of the long-term impacts of increased substance use.
The findings, gathered by the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research (PBCAR) of McMaster University, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and the Homewood Research Institute in Guelph, Ont., show that since March 2020, monthly alcohol sales rose by an average of 5.5 per cent over expected sales, while sales of cannabis experienced a much steeper increase of close to 25 per cent.
The researchers used information from Statistics Canada to compare 16 months of alcohol and cannabis sales before and after the pandemic began — namely the 16 months before March 2020 and following through to June 2021.
Canadians bought $1.86 billion more in alcohol than expected based on pre-pandemic trends. Cannabis sales, meanwhile, were $811 million higher than predictions.
In March 2020, when lockdown-like measures were first introduced, sales of alcohol and cannabis surged by approximately 15 per cent over predictions, the research found.
The research was published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open.
"These results offer one of the first national perspectives on changes in alcohol and cannabis use during the pandemic," said James MacKillop, director of the PBCAR and co-author of the research, in a news release.
"These sales data give us an opportunity to quantify the pandemic's impacts on two of the most commonly used substances for the country as a whole."
MacKillop stressed that increased sales alone cannot directly conclude clinical significance or effects on public health, but may serve as an "early warning system" for more long-term impacts linked to increased substance use.
"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," he said.
The researchers say the spike parallels other consumer stockpiling of various goods as the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact North America more broadly.
Alcohol sales returned to more typical levels after March 2020, but remained elevated overall. This is compared to cannabis sales, which continued to outpace expected levels more dramatically over the following 16 months.
The researchers note that the difference between increased alcohol and cannabis sales are similar to a separate study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health on self-reported pandemic-induced changes in cannabis use by Canadians.
Further complicating the findings, however, is that pandemic cannabis sales follow the first 16 months after legalization.
MacKillop says that while the predictions accounted for a rapidly expanding legal market, the pandemic may have shifted cannabis consumers from illegal sales to legal, online purchasing. This, he says, contributed to the rise in legal sales seen in March 2020 compared to the more modest rise in alcohol sales.
"It's unclear whether similar patterns exist outside of Canada, but the findings indicate the value of sales data as a strategy to characterize the impacts of COVID-19 on substance use," said Jean Costello, director of evaluation at the Homewood Research Institute and a co-author of the research.
"Although the changing landscape following cannabis legalization is a critical consideration, the availability of cannabis sales data at all is a boon for researchers evaluating the pandemic's impacts."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.