Island Health’s Chief Medical Health Officer’s Report on Substance Use and Health.

Presenter bio: Dr. Réka Gustafson Is the Vice President, Population & Public Health and Chief Medical Health Officer at Island Health. In this role, Dr. Gustafson leads programs that aim to improve health and reduce inequities in health for residents of Island Health. These programs include population health assessment, communicable disease control, immunization, maternal and child health programs, health protection and environmental health, community care facilities licensing, and population health promotion. Since substance use is one of the leading causes of poor health and early death in Island Health, Dr. Gustafson also leads the Island Health Addiction Medicine and Substance Use program. One of her other roles as Chief Medical Health Officer is to advance public policies that improve population health and reduce health inequities in the population. Dr. Gustafson joined Island Health from the BC Centre for Disease Control, the organization she led during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Prior to that she was the Medical Health Officer for the City of Vancouver and Deputy Chief Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Coastal Health. She is a Clinical Professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. Throughout her career, Dr. Gustafson has worked in the areas of HIV prevention and care, outbreak control and response, and overdose prevention and response. Summary of the talk: Alcohol, tobacco, and illegally manufactured opioids all cause significant preventable harms to the health of people living in Island Health. Some of these harms are highly visible, while others are more hidden. At the same time, dialogue about substances in our communities is becoming increasingly polarized. We explore the health consequences of a range of substances and examine the differences in our approaches as a society that might contribute to or mitigate harm. The intention of this report is to contribute to our collective understanding and support conversations and changes in communities that lead to better health. We review data on consumption of substances and health outcomes in the context of current and historical policies and regulations, as well as dominant social narratives and norms. By exploring a range of psychoactive substances, from the illegal and unregulated to the legal, promoted, and celebrated, the report hopes to show that the way we talk about and approach substances is largely rooted in history and perception, rather than evidence. While substance use is a part of the human experience, the way we use substances and how substance use affects our health is also influenced by our biology, social circumstances, experiences of trauma, and public policies. We focus on four categories of substances: alcohol, unregulated substances, tobacco, and cannabis; the first three because they contribute the greatest harm within Island Health, and cannabis because enactment of the federal Cannabis Act in 2018 allows us to examine the effect of policy change on health. 2-3 learning objectives Understand the burden of illness related to substance use in Island Health. Review the policy context of alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, and unregulated substance consumption. Consider potential policy interventions to reduce health harms associated with substance use.

Mediasite Presenter

4/22/2025 7:00:00 PM