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Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
This study sought to trace the historical development and evolution of the concept of a public health approach to substance use in Canada through a critical review of the academic literature.
Findings/Key points
Overall we found a gradual convergence towards a potential Canadian model for a public health approach to substance use: a model based on principles including human rights and equity, in which psychoactive substances are neither criminalized nor commercialized, but rather strictly regulated, proportionately to the risks they pose, in a manner that optimizes the health of the population. At present, governments across Canada appear to be moving in the opposite direction.
Design/methods
Critical review is a method designed to systematically search a body of literature, take stock of its evolution and current state, identify conceptual contributions, and compare schools of thought. Systematic searches were conducted in February and March 2023 in five English-language databases and three French-language databases. Eligible articles were written in English or French by a first author based in Canada, focused primarily on substance use, and published in 2020 or earlier. 64 articles, published between 1896 and 2020, were synthesized.
