Benedikt Fischer

Research Synopsis

Dr. Fischer’s substance use and addiction research work is highly interdisciplinary in nature and, throughout his career, has primarily focused on the intersecting areas of: epidemiology and harms of illicit/prescription drug use; prevention/treatment/public health interventions; co-morbidities (mainly mental health, infectious disease, and pain); and marginalized (e.g., street-involved, correctional; First Nations/Indigenous) populations, with a strong focus on knowledge translation and/or policy application. He is recognized as an international leader in these fields. Select highlights of Dr. Fischer’s prolific research career include: The OPICAN study (which uniquely characterized drug use, health and intervention needs of illicit opioid users across Canada); characteristics of and experimental brief interventions for high-risk cannabis users; evidence-based ‘Lower Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines’ (original version in 2011 and revised version just launched); novel pharmaco-treatment interventions for opioid and cannabis disorders; behavioral/clinical characteristics of and interventions for crack-cocaine users in North and South America); as well as population-level  determinants and outcomes of (morbidity and mortality) harm and evidence-based interventions for prescription opioid use, misuse and control, in Canada and internationally. Recently, Dr. Fischer has been a leading voice in providing science-based input for responses to the ‘prescription opioid crisis’ in Canada, as well as for developing the cannabis legalization framework in Canada. The latter role, most recently, included his temporary secondment as Senior Science Advisor to Health Canada’s Cannabis Legalization & Regulation Office.