The shifting riskscape: Changes in geographic accessibility to alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco in Ontario, Canada from 2019 to 2022

IF 4.4 2区医学 Q1 SUBSTANCE ABUSE

International Journal of Drug Policy Pub Date : 2025-08-21 DOI:10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104965

Shiran Zhong , Alexander Wray , Jamie Seabrook , Jason A Gilliland

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Geographic accessibility to alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco has changed in Ontario, Canada between 2019 and 2022 due to regulatory changes.

Aim

We conceptualize geographic accessibility to these substances as a ‘riskscape’ and investigate how these recent regulatory changes have altered the substance riskscape in Ontario, Canada in relation to neighborhood socioeconomic factors.

Design

We use an interrupted time series design to calculate the shortest distance between the centroid of each dissemination block and the nearest alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco outlet in 2019 and 2022. The geographic accessibility to substance outlets is further evaluated in relation to neighborhood disadvantage.

Findings

Accessibility to alcohol and cannabis increased substantially across the province, while there were minimal reductions in accessibility to tobacco during the same time period. Neighborhoods with a higher prevalence of lone parenthood, low educational attainment, and government transfer recipients exhibited a higher exposure to risky substances compared to the general population. The regulatory changes further exacerbated potential vulnerability among these populations to varying degrees.

Conclusions

The substantial changes in accessibility to alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco warrant further investigation, particularly focusing on how these shifting riskscapes influence consumption patterns, disparities in harm, and long-term health outcomes.

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不断变化的风险环境：2019年至2022年加拿大安大略省酒精、大麻和烟草的地理可及性变化

由于监管变化，2019年至2022年期间，加拿大安大略省的酒精、大麻和烟草的地理可及性发生了变化。我们将这些物质的地理可及性概念化为“风险环境”，并调查这些最近的监管变化如何改变加拿大安大略省与社区社会经济因素相关的物质风险环境。我们使用中断时间序列设计来计算2019年和2022年每个传播块的质心与最近的酒精、大麻和烟草销售点之间的最短距离。进一步评价了物质出口的地理可达性与邻里劣势的关系。调查结果：在同一时期，全省获得酒精和大麻的机会大幅增加，而获得烟草的机会则略有减少。与一般人群相比，单身父母比例较高、受教育程度较低和政府转移支付接受者的社区暴露于危险物质的风险较高。监管变化不同程度地加剧了这些人群的潜在脆弱性。结论：酒精、大麻和烟草可及性的重大变化值得进一步调查，特别是关注这些变化的风险环境如何影响消费模式、危害差异和长期健康结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Drug Policy SUBSTANCE ABUSE-

CiteScore

7.80

自引率

11.40%

发文量

307

审稿时长

62 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Drug Policy provides a forum for the dissemination of current research, reviews, debate, and critical analysis on drug use and drug policy in a global context. It seeks to publish material on the social, political, legal, and health contexts of psychoactive substance use, both licit and illicit. The journal is particularly concerned to explore the effects of drug policy and practice on drug-using behaviour and its health and social consequences. It is the policy of the journal to represent a wide range of material on drug-related matters from around the world.