Benedikt Fischer
Biographic Data
| ID | 3669401 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Benedikt Fischer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Benedikt |
| FAMILY NAME | Fischer |
| SIGNATURE | FISCHER B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Centre for Addiction and Mental Health |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2186-4030 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 111 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 113 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 112 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
‘Involuntary treatment’ for severe substance use disorders (SUDs). An overview of key issues, experiences and outcomes for consideration in policy development in Canada
Background In the midst an ongoing public health-crisis from toxic drug use, overdose deaths and compromised community safety, policy-officials in Canada have called to consider mobilizing ‘involuntary treatment’ (InvTx) measures for severe substance use disorders (SUDs) as interventions to reduce related health and social burdens.Methods We identified conceptual, socio-legal/-historical, clinical/epidemiological and other empirical literature- a…
Online promotional practices and apparent violations from licensed cannabis retail stores in Canada
BACKGROUND: Canada legalized non-medical cannabis in 2018, with marketing and promotion regulated under the Cannabis Act. However, little is known about the promotional practices of licensed cannabis retailers. This study analyzed the online content of Canadian cannabis retailer websites and assessed apparent violations of federal marketing regulations. METHODS: A cross-sectional content analysis of cannabis retailer websites across all 13 Canadi…
Outcomes and implications of British Columbia’s ‘drug decriminalization initiative’ for health-oriented drug policymaking
Las ‘Guías para el Uso de Cannabis de Menor Riesgo (GUCMR)’
Die ‘Richtlinien für die Risiko-Reduzierung beim Cannabiskonsum (RRRCK)’
Les ‘Lignes Directrices Pour l'Usage du Cannabis à Moindre Risque (LUCMR)’
Psilocybin retail stores in Canada
Exploring the role of primary regulation differences for cannabis legalization outcomes – preliminary data from two Canadian provinces
Background: Cannabis legalization policy is increasingly implemented to improve public health and safety outcomes, including in Canada (since 2018). Main outcome assessments have primarily focused on categorical (e.g. pre-/post-) legalization policy reform effects, while differential regulation frameworks have been less considered. For this, Canada provides a rich ecology where provinces diversely define many regulation parameters under the feder…
Cannabis-Legalisierung in Kanada
Kanada legalisierte den nicht-medizinischen Konsum, die Produktion und den Verkauf von Cannabis 2018. Vorgestellt wird eine Zusammenfassung von Literatur und Daten zu den Folgen der Cannabislegalisierung in Kanada in den Bereichen cannabisbezogene Kriminalität, Fahren unter dem Einfluss von Cannabis und Auswirkungen der Legalisierung auf Beschaffungspraktiken. Die Daten resultieren aus einer gezielten Suche in wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichunge…
Impact of the first year of British Columbia’s decriminalization of drug possession for personal use on drug crime in Canada
Evaluating the association between cannabis decriminalization and legalization and cannabis arrests and related disparities
Key crime- and public safety-related results of non-medical cannabis legalization policy in Canada
Purpose Cannabis policies are increasingly being liberalized, including the de jure legalization of non-medical cannabis use and supply in Canada (2018) implemented toward improved public health and safety outcomes. While health outcomes have shown mixed results, less attention has been given to crime- and public safety-related outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to provide a targeted literature/data summary on select main crime- and public sa…
Three noteworthy idiosyncrasies related to Canada's opioid‐death crisis, and implications for public health‐oriented interventions
Canada has been experiencing a prolonged public health‐crisis of high rates of overdose deaths caused by exceptionally potent/toxic, illicit opioid use. While many key features of this drug death epidemic are well‐documented, several idiosyncratic aspects with relevance for public health‐oriented interventions are not adequately recognised. These include: (i) the discrepant opioid patterns pan‐Canada, with large majorities of opioid deaths caused…
The associations of supervised consumption services with the rates of opioid‐related mortality and morbidity outcomes at the public health unit level in Ontario (Canada)
Primary crime-related outcome indicators associated with recreational cannabis legalization
The ‘ban’ for public health that wasn't? Views and impressions on cannabis retail promotion/advertising realities amidst legalization policy in Canada
Should cannabis self-cultivation be part of a public health‒oriented legalization policy framework
Socio-demographic, health and drug use characteristics among people with different frequency patterns of cannabis use in Brazil
Data on cannabis use patterns and health outcome indicators for Brazil are limited. We undertook a cross-sectional internet-based survey assessing socio-demographics, cannabis use frequency, other drug use, quality-of-life (QOL), affective states (i.e. anxiety and depression), and cannabis use disorder among adult respondents in Brazil. A multinomial logistic regression was conducted using cannabis frequency status as the dependent variable. A to…
Cannabis use, risk behaviours and harms in Brazil
Drug decriminalization’ in Canada
Conceptualizing and considering Cannabis-Related “Harm-to-Others”
Public health-oriented frameworks for cannabis use of control, including legalization, are evolving. Most frameworks aim to reduce cannabis-related health harms that materialize among users; there has been comparably limited focus on cannabis-related "harm-to-others". A longstanding issue for other psychoactive substances, and increasingly recognized form of cannabis-related harm-to-others involves violence/aggression. We briefly review relevant …
Health harms of non‐medical prescription opioid use
Applying the socio-ecological model to understand community reintegration experiences among individuals on opioid agonist treatment (OAT) released from federal incarceration in Ontario, Canada
Introduction: Correctional populations on opioid agonist treatment (OAT) experience adverse outcomes upon community release. However, many factors impact post-release community reintegration experiences/trajectories, and few studies examine the complex interplay between these dynamics. The current study utilized the socio-ecological model (SEM) to examine the synergistic impact of individual, interpersonal, community, and organizational/policy-le…
Developments and Changes in Primary Public Health Outcome Indicators Associated with the Legalization of Non-Medical Cannabis Use and Supply in Canada (2018)
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) experiences and release plans among federally incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) in Ontario, Canada
Major barriers towards the current administration of OAT in federal correctional systems in Canada exist, including extensive waitlists, non-standardized practices, and challenges accessing preferred OAT formulations; this contributes to sub-optimal treatment. Eliminating waitlists, standardizing OAT provision, providing additional OAT options, and more comprehensive release planning may be essential for treatment retention and positive outcomes
Exclusion, ‘risk’, and social control—reflections on community policing and public health
Illicit Opioid Use in Canada
Crack Use As a Public Health Problem in Canada
Doing Good with a Vengeance
`Drug treatment courts' (DTCs) are a new institution in North American criminal justice for dealing with drug offenders. There are currently two DTC pilot trials in implementation in Canada. Based on a 'therapeutic jurisprudence' approach, DTCs claim to rehabilitate rather than punish drug-addicted offenders, and thus to reduce drug use, recidivism and social cost. Given the current enthusiasm about DTCs, this article provides a critique of DTCs'…
Safer Injection Facilities (SIFs) for Injection Drug Users (IDUs) in Canada
The Case for a Heroin Substitution Treatment Trial in Canada
Hard to crack”
Asians are the largest racial minority in Canada making up 11% of the population and represented over 60% of new immigrants between 2001 and 2006. We examined the experiences of community integration for first-generation (n = 27) and second-generation (n = 22) Asian Canadian men who have sex with men (MSM) in their ethnic and gay communities. Through focus group interviews, we explored their level of connectedness and the level of discrimination …
Determinants of Property Crime Among Illicit Opiate Users Outside of Treatment Across Canada
Criminal activities account for a major proportion of the social costs related to illicit drug use. This article examines the factors contributing to property crime activity among a community sample of 653 untreated regular illicit opiate users in 5 Canadian cities (OPICAN study). Multivariate analyses showed the frequency of heroin, cocaine, and crack use, gender, housing status, and past criminal justice involvement as predictors of property cr…
Social costs of untreated opioid dependence
Prohibition, public health and a window of opportunity
For almost a century, Canadian drug policy has been dominated by a paradigm of prohibition, driven by the practical and institutional interests of drug law enforcement. In the 1980s, a ‘policy window’ for reform opened on the federal government level via the opportunity to establish a new drug control law and to launch a major public health‐oriented drug policy initiative. A detailed analysis of these developments concludes that, despite the rhet…
Cannabis Use in Canada
Feasibility and Outcome of HCV Treatment in a Canadian Federal Prison Population
We assessed feasibility and outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment in male correctional inmates in British Columbia, Canada. We reviewed the medical charts of 114 treated inmates; 80 had complete data for treatment outcome. Approximately 4 of 5 inmates completed treatment (78.8%); 66.3% achieved sustained virological response. Those who completed treatment, those with injection drug use as a risk factor, and those with genotypes 2 and 3 wer…
Self-perceived Health Among Canadian Opiate Users
How Many People in Canada Use Prescription Opioids Nonmedically in General and Street Drug Using Populations
Beyond the barriers
This ethnographic study aimed at developing a richer understanding of how youth, their schools, and the communities in which they are emplaced coincide to generate a set of local social processes that affect marijuana use. We trace the interplay between high school staff and students with regards to marijuana use in the proximity of a local high school and the shifting geographies of use in this setting. Although marijuana use was a concern for t…
Non-medical Use of Prescription Opioids and Public Health in Canada
Prescription Drug Abuse in Canada and the Diversion of Prescription Drugs into the Illicit Drug Market
Comparing Opiate Users in Methadone Treatment with Untreated Opiate Users
Drug decriminalization’ in Canada
Non-medical prescription opioid use, prescription opioid-related harms and public health in Canada
Research, Policy Development, and Progress
Justice policy is typically based more on political considerations than on research results. One way to break down barriers between researchers and policy-makers is to encourage partnerships. AUTO21, a member of the Networks of Centres of Excellence program, is designed to facilitate partnerships. The Antisocial Behaviour and the Automobile project focuses on auto theft, driving under the influence of alcohol and cannabis, and road rage/driver ag…
Characterizing the “Awakening Elephant” of Prescription Opioid Misuse in North America
Recent North American data suggest that the misuse of prescription opioids (POs) has substantially increased in segments of the general population (e.g., adults, youth, students), as well as in specific high-risk groups (e.g. street drug users), in many instances surpassing prevalence rates for traditional illicit drugs. Some 11 million U.S. citizens are estimated to have misused POs in 2002 alone. These misuse trends have corresponded with incre…
Increasing Prevalence of Cocaine as the Primary Detoxification Diagnosis among Admissions Presenting with Current Intravenous Drug Use
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hepatitis C Infection (HCV) in a Multi-site Canadian Population of Illicit Opioid and Other Drug Users (Opican)
Drug-related Overdose Deaths in British Columbia and Ontario, 1992–2004
Bibliographie/reviews
BLACKWILL, R.D. and CARNESALE, A. (eds.), New Nuclear Nations: Consequences for U.S. Policy, New York, Council on Foreign Relations, 1993, 288 p. BLANQUET, M., L'Article 5 du Traité CEE. Paris, Librairie générale de Droit et de jurisprudence, 1994, xxiv + 502 p. BREMER, B. (ed.), Europe by Nature: Starting Points for Sustainable Development, Amsterdam, Conspectus Europae, 1992, 240 p. CAFRUNY, A.W. et ROSENTHAL, G.G. (eds.), The State of the Euro…
Alcohol consumption and the liability of offenders in the German criminal system
The recent Canadian criminal case of Daviault v. R. with its subsequent decision handed down by the Supreme Court has sparked a substantial discussion around the issue of liability of offenders in a state of intoxication at the time of offense. The critical question involves whether offenders-finding themselves in a state of altered consciousness due to the intake and effects of psychoactive substances-can be held legally responsible for the act …
The Case for a Heroin Substitution Treatment Trial in Canada
Exclusion, ‘risk’, and social control—reflections on community policing and public health
Prohibition, public health and a window of opportunity
For almost a century, Canadian drug policy has been dominated by a paradigm of prohibition, driven by the practical and institutional interests of drug law enforcement. In the 1980s, a ‘policy window’ for reform opened on the federal government level via the opportunity to establish a new drug control law and to launch a major public health‐oriented drug policy initiative. A detailed analysis of these developments concludes that, despite the rhet…
Comparing Opiate Users in Methadone Treatment with Untreated Opiate Users
Consideration of a North American heroin-assisted clinical trial for the treatment of opiate-dependent individuals
Untreated opiate addiction remains a major public health problem in North America (US and Canada). Increased morbidity and mortality as well as criminal behavior related to untreated opiate dependence constitute significant social and economic burdens. While the principal treatment modality to opiate addiction in North America has been methadone treatment since the 1960s, its reach and effectiveness has been limited; at any given time, only about…
Social costs of untreated opioid dependence
Some Reflections on the Relationship of Risk, Harm and Responsibility in Recent Tobacco Lawsuits, and Implications for Public Health
Safer Injection Facilities (SIFs) for Injection Drug Users (IDUs) in Canada
Abstinence Ideology and Somatic Treatment for Addicts - Ethical Considerations
(2003). Abstinence Ideology and Somatic Treatment for Addicts - Ethical Considerations. Addiction Research & Theory: Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 287-293
Doing Good with a Vengeance
`Drug treatment courts' (DTCs) are a new institution in North American criminal justice for dealing with drug offenders. There are currently two DTC pilot trials in implementation in Canada. Based on a 'therapeutic jurisprudence' approach, DTCs claim to rehabilitate rather than punish drug-addicted offenders, and thus to reduce drug use, recidivism and social cost. Given the current enthusiasm about DTCs, this article provides a critique of DTCs'…
Injection Drug Use and the Hepatitis C Virus
How Drug using men who have sex with men account for substance use during Sexual Behaviours
Much HIV prevention research ignores the underlying reasons why drug-using men who have sex with men (DU-MSM) use substances during sex. The present study explores DU-MSM descriptions of the relationships among substance use, sex, and risky sex practices. Twenty-seven in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with sexually active DU-MSM. The research findings illustrate six roles of substances within the sexual lives of DU-MSM: Enhancing the…
Drug use, risk and urban order
Self-perceived Health Among Canadian Opiate Users
Illicit Opioid Use in Canada
Feasibility and Outcome of HCV Treatment in a Canadian Federal Prison Population
We assessed feasibility and outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment in male correctional inmates in British Columbia, Canada. We reviewed the medical charts of 114 treated inmates; 80 had complete data for treatment outcome. Approximately 4 of 5 inmates completed treatment (78.8%); 66.3% achieved sustained virological response. Those who completed treatment, those with injection drug use as a risk factor, and those with genotypes 2 and 3 wer…
Crack Use As a Public Health Problem in Canada
Prescription Drug Abuse in Canada and the Diversion of Prescription Drugs into the Illicit Drug Market
Drug-related Overdose Deaths in British Columbia and Ontario, 1992–2004
Health and Social Services Accessed by a Cohort of Canadian Illicit Opioid Users Outside of Treatment
Hepatitis C, Illicit Drug Use and Public Health
Determinants of Property Crime Among Illicit Opiate Users Outside of Treatment Across Canada
Criminal activities account for a major proportion of the social costs related to illicit drug use. This article examines the factors contributing to property crime activity among a community sample of 653 untreated regular illicit opiate users in 5 Canadian cities (OPICAN study). Multivariate analyses showed the frequency of heroin, cocaine, and crack use, gender, housing status, and past criminal justice involvement as predictors of property cr…
Heroin-assisted Treatment (HAT) a Decade Later
Medicine (86 works) · Psychiatry (67 works) · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes (55 works) · Psychology (47 works) · Environmental health (46 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (45 works) · Political science (45 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (40 works) · Public health (37 works) · Cannabis (33 works)