Canadian Doctors Urge 2-Drink Weekly Alcohol Limit as Patients Miss New Risk Guidance
Updated
Updated · Toronto Star · Jul 26
Canadian Doctors Urge 2-Drink Weekly Alcohol Limit as Patients Miss New Risk Guidance
1 articles · Updated · Toronto Star · Jul 26
Summary
Two drinks a week is the new “low-risk” threshold in 2023 guidance from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, and doctors say many Canadians still do not know it or underestimate how much they drink.
Doctors say that gap matters because alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen and can underlie anxiety, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure and heart rhythm problems that patients often do not connect to drinking.
Health Canada has not formally adopted the 2023 guideline and still lists older limits of 15 weekly drinks for men and 10 for women, though it says any reduction helps and non-drinkers should not start.
Gen Z is not providing the hoped-for decline in drinking: a new IWSR survey put its drinking rate at 74%, up from 66% three years earlier, roughly matching the adult population.
Doctors also argue alcohol’s social normalization and broad marketing — alongside wider retail access in Ontario convenience stores and gas stations — make cutting back harder and warrant a broader cultural shift.