Toronto Mayor John Tory hosted a round table at CAMH on how the police handle encounters with people in crisis, and CAMH will be continuing to recommend improvements, as we have with the OPP.

With the recent rise in prescription opioid addiction and overdose deaths from fentanyl, particularly among young people, the federal government named CAMH as Ontario lead of the Canadian Research Initiative on Substance Misuse (CRISM), a national network aimed at identifying and implementing effective treatments for the more than 400,000 Canadians who misuse prescription drugs.

It is estimated up to 80 per cent of people seeking addiction treatment have another mental illness diagnosis. In one of the largest clinical changes to Ontario’s addiction system in more than two decades, CAMH is rolling out new screening and assessment tools that will result in more comprehensive treatment for those accessing addiction services funded by the province.

The legalization of cannabis is on the public agenda. CAMH’s Cannabis Policy Framework has been effective in making the case that, once legal, strict regulations on the drug are required from a public health perspective. CAMH is helping policy makers address the many emerging issues, from medical marijuana to preventing cannabis-impaired driving.

Proposed legislation governing physician-assisted death has provoked a deeply emotional debate among Canadians: should medically assisted death ever be extended to include a person with mental illness? CAMH psychiatric, bioethical and legal experts contributed to the issue at the Special Joint Committee and Senate Committee hearings in Ottawa.

Using Adderall to get ahead. CAMH’s Dr. Carolyn Dewa, Head of the Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health discusses the misuse of Adderall to enhance work performance.