This site supports BC communities...

…in taking effective action to address the harms related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. It was created to give community leaders, service providers, volunteers, interested citizens, youth and seniors access to quality information, research-based knowledge, and experiences of others, as well as tools for planning, implementing and evaluating actions. Effective action involves promoting health – not just treating or preventing problems. So, this site supports a comprehensive community health approach to substance use.

But your community is unique...

…which means that comprehensive community health is not a matter of applying a strict model. It is more a way of thinking and acting. Still, your community is not so different. Evidence about effective approaches, experiences of other communities, data on trends, and patterns of substance use are all information resources that may be useful to you. This knowledge from outside your community, together with local data and the expertise of your group, will help you promote the health of your community. This site provides access to information and guidance on developing and implementing strategies to achieve that goal.

The Troll under Aurora Bridge

By Jim Diers
Photo Derek Ramsey

Seattle: The area beneath the Aurora Bridge in Seattle’s Fremont neighbourhood was largely hidden from view. As a result, it was the perfect location for all kinds of illicit activity. Most communities would have responded by erecting a fence or petitioning the city for increased enforcement.

Fremont is a neighbourhood of artists, however, and their unorthodox solution was to build a troll. Completed in 1991, the troll is so large that it clutches a real VW as if the troll had grasped it from the top of the bridge. Now, the community celebrates events like Trolloween and Shakespeare on the Troll. Tourists flock to Fremont in droves to see the troll and, when they do, they tend to shop in the local business district. A problem place has become a neighbourhood treasure.