Carleton University/CCSA Memorandum of Agreement

On December 13, 2001, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) and Carleton University formalized an opportunity to enhance their respective roles and effectiveness with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement that brings together the unique strengths of each organization. This agreement will provide a bridge between academic excellence and the addictions field.

It is widely recognized that substance abuse and addictions have a negative impact on the health, and social and economic well-being of Canadians, and that effective partnerships between educational institutions and non-governmental organizations can promote the development of leading-edge research, policies and programs that reduce the harm associated with alcohol and other drugs.

CCSA and Carleton University have pledged to work together in a spirit of cooperation, learning and support to implement practical means of bringing the policy and research fields and University researchers closer together; championing inter-sectoral and inter-faculty partnerships to maximize efforts and resources; sharing data, information, networks and resources; creating and promoting a participatory forum for faculty members, researchers and students in the field of addictions; and jointly creating opportunities to provide long-term continuity of academic interest in the field of addictions and the practical application of social science skills.

• The 2001 cross-appointment of a faculty member of Carleton University's Department of Sociology and Anthropology to a part-time position at CCSA.
• CCSA, Carleton University and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction) co-sponsored the 2001 Addictions Researchers Workshop. A report on the conference prompted the organization of the 2003 Forum on Alcohol and Illicit Drugs Research in Canada and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research call for Requests for Applications, Research in Addictions: Innovative Approaches in Health Research.
• In partnership with CCSA, the Carleton University Data Centre provides researchers, research organizations and academics with access to the Canadian Addiction Survey microdata files.
• CCSA staff members have contributed to graduate and undergraduate courses on addictions in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in activities that range from guest lectures to judging research project symposiums.
• CCSA and Carleton jointly sponsored an open forum in 2004 with presentations on Neuroscience of Substance Dependence and Addiction-related research in Canada and CIHR-INMHA.
• A faculty member of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology was involved as a Technical Advisor to the CCSA-chaired Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (CCENDU).
• Student research placements at CCSA produced perspective papers on
  • knowledge transfer techniques in the addictions field,
  • establishing a Canadian substance abuse journal,
  • the decriminalization of marijuana,
  • Canada's response to methamphetamine use,
  • drug courts in Canada and the U.S.,
  • gender differences among adult children of alcoholics, and
  • community response models in the addictions field.
• Students were also involved in
  • the design and ongoing development of a Territorial Resource for the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon;
  • development and implementation of a survey and report on youth solvent treatment in Australia;
  • conducting research for one in a series of documents on harm reduction for special populations in Canada;
  • evaluation of CCSA's treatment services database;
  • undergraduate student field placements from the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Work to date includes reports on mandatory and coerced treatment, abuse of prescription drugs and drug courts;
  • the development of a plain language knowledge dissemination booklet, and;
  • development and implementation of an interview instrument and report on community-based research perspectives involving the Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (CCENDU) and the Health, Education and Enforcement in Partnership (HEP) network.
• Graduate and undergraduate students also had access to CCSA's Information and Reference Service.
• A faculty member of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology sat on the Advisory Committee for the Canadian Addiction Survey, an initiative led by the Canadian Executive Council on Addictions (CECA) and CCSA.
• A faculty member of the Department of Psychology is a Research Associate with CCSA, focussing on analyzing data from the Canadian Addiction Survey.
• Since 2003, a Senior Researcher with CCSA has been an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Psychology.