Changing when and how people get their monthly income-assistance payments could ease the spike in drug use that’s typically seen around “cheque day,” suggests a new study from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU). The findings — which are being presented next week at the 2019 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of B.C. — also caution that such changes could actually increase drug-related harms, such as overdose frequency, police interaction or exposure to violence.

But while the data is less conclusive about how such harms might be linked to a change in payment schedules, a connection between substance use and “cheque day” schedules was clearly established, said Lindsey Richardson, research scientist with... Read More