Acadia University today released its response to the report developed by Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, on reducing alcohol harms. 

The University would like to thank Dr. Strang and his team for their expert work on the review. The release outlines a series of comprehensive measures the University is implementing this upcoming school year to further its efforts to reduce high risk drinking and the harms caused by high-risk behaviour.

The University’s new measures flow directly from work it started in May 2011 with the National College Health Improvement Project (NCHIP) Learning Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking based at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and from the report prepared for Acadia by Dr. Strang. 

 “A number of dedicated and committed people from students, faculty and staff, to parents and community leaders, to health care professionals and policy makers helped Acadia develop this comprehensive strategy and I am grateful for their important contribution,” said Ray Ivany, President of Acadia University.

“My colleagues across North America recognize the importance of changing the culture of high- risk alcohol consumption among young people for both their immediate safety and their long-term health. The report from Dr. Robert Strang told us that, while we were already headed in the right direction, we can go further by adopting best practices employed by others and engage more members of our campus community in our efforts. As the only Canadian university member of the NCHIP Learning Collaborative, we’ve learned that the only way to succeed is to take an approach that intervenes on several different levels.”

The full text of the Dr. Strang’s report to Acadia University and Acadia’s response can be found at http://studentaffairs.acadiau.ca/alcoholreview.html

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