In P.E.I., sweeping new strategy takes aim at ‘pervasive drinking culture’
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strategy → take → culture
P.E.I. now one of only a few Canadian provinces with 'directly actionable' alcohol strategy, expert says
Brenda Simmons is happy to see her son’s name at the top of a new monument in Charlottetown’s Joseph A. Ghiz Memorial Park.
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Simmons → say → Park
But she would still give anything for it not to be there.
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it → give → anything
The iron sculpture erected by the P.E.I. chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is in the shape of the island, broken into three pieces.
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sculpture → erect → pieces
“It’s to commemorate the way impaired driving breaks up communities, families and lives,” Simmons told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of White Coat, Black Art.
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Simmons → ’ → Coat
On June 12, 2020, 27-year-old Jacob Simmons was riding a bike on a country road near the family farm when he was struck and killed by an impaired driver who later admitted to having 13 drinks at home that day before getting behind the wheel.
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who → rid → wheel
Jacob Simmons was a keen marathon runner who had added biking to his training shortly before being struck and killed in the early evening hours of June 12, 2020.
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who → add → June
Six years later, in June of this year, P.E.I. released a sweeping alcohol strategy aimed at preventing tragic outcomes like Jacob’s – as well as the more everyday outcomes of heavy drinking, like cancer, heart disease, and cardiovascular disease.
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P.E.I. → release → cancer
The province says the recommendations will come into effect in the months and years to come.
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recommendations → say → months
Though P.E.I.��’s overall drinking rates are on par with Canadian averages, advocates for the strategy point to a culture on the island where heavy drinking is normalized.
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drinking → point → island
One statistic that hits close to home for Brenda Simmons is that P.E.I.’s impaired driving rates are nearly three times the national average.
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rates → hit → Simmons
For her, the fact that the province is mostly rural, without public transit or Uber, is not enough to explain its prevalence.
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province → explain → prevalence
“I would challenge you to find someone on this island who [cannot] say… yes, this happened to someone that I can name personally,” she said.
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she → challenge → that
The strategy
Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.’s chief public health officer, says alcohol is “very present” in the province.
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alcohol → say → province
“Alcohol is very mixed in with our social culture, our community culture.”
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Alcohol → mix → culture
Her work on changing P.E.I.’s drinking culture goes way back, she says.
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she → change → culture
After a good friend was killed by a drunk driver in middle school, Morrison got involved with the first chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving in Atlantic Canada.
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Morrison → kill → Canada
“I can't remember not really thinking about the harms associated with alcohol,” she said.
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she → remember → alcohol
P.E.I. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison is targeting how much Islanders drink, rather than telling them not to.
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Islanders → target → them
"I had someone recently say to me, 'I'm so glad you don't come out and say I cannot drink, but I'm really glad that you're telling me I should drink less because now I'll listen,'" she said.
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she → have → less
Morrison shepherded this alcohol strategy through five years of planning and consultation with more than 1,000 Islanders.
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Morrison → shepherd → Islanders
She also worked with other government departments responsible for the pricing and sale of alcohol, public awareness, public safety and impaired-driving enforcement.
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She → work → alcohol
The strategy consists of 16 recommendations geared to approaching the problem from all angles, says Morrison.
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Morrison → consist → angles
These include things like screening for high-risk drinking during medical appointments as well as targeted programs for things like reducing alcohol consumption among youth and monitoring those with fetal alcohol syndrome.
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These → include → syndrome
They also include a review of just how easy it is to buy alcohol, which could include reducing the number of stores or adjusting their operating hours.
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which → include → hours
Currently 80 per cent of Islanders live within 10 minutes of a P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission outlet.
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cent → live → outlet
Morrison is hopeful the strategy’s focus on reducing consumption — rather than quitting altogether — will be key to its success.
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focus → reduce → success
“We’ve tried to keep that emphasis around, there are harms associated with higher levels of drinking,” she said, pointing to a “Less Is Best” billboard encouraging Islanders that reducing their drinking by any amount is a step in the right direction.
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reducing → try → direction
Thousands of hospital visits
Dr. Trevor Jain says he sees the impacts of high-risk drinking every shift in the emergency department at Charlottetown’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
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he → say → Hospital
In fact, research shows it contributes to 7,000 emergency department visits and hospitalizations on P.E.I. annually.
“When you think of alcohol, you think of catastrophic motor vehicle collisions, and we see our fair share of those,” said Jain.
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Jain → show → those
Dr. Trevor Jain is hoping that the new alcohol strategy's goals around "educating folks that alcohol is not a benign drink" will mean fewer patients coming to his ER at Queen Elizabeth Hospital suffering alcohol harms.
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alcohol → hop → harms
But he says the heavy toll of alcohol presents itself in all kinds of other ways, too.
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toll → say → ways
When White Coat, Black Art paid a visit to the hospital earlier this month, Jain said he was about to go see a patient in alcohol withdrawal who needed help with symptoms.
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who → pay → symptoms
What Jain calls the "culture of alcohol abuse" on P.E.I. has a more insidious side, too.
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calls → call → side
It just doesn't affect the individual; it affects so many people around them.
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it → affect → them
Jain says he thinks the new alcohol strategy takes an excellent approach.
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strategy → say → approach
“Public health grabbing this by the horns… is going to help a lot of people,” he said.
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he → grab → people
“It falls within that preventative medicine kind of matrix, and I think it will be extremely helpful to our local community.”
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it → fall → community
A model for other provinces
Adam Sherk, who co-authored Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, released in 2023, said other provinces should take note of the breadth of P.E.I.’s recommendations.
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provinces → co → recommendations
These Canadians passed on alcohol long before going 'dry' became trendy
WATCH |
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going → pass → alcohol
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
