Addiction medicine in the time of COVID-19: An overview of the 2020 Joint Scientific Annual Conference of the International Society of Addiction Medicine and Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine.

For years, Substance Abuse has annually published a communication regarding the annual conference of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM). These pieces have highlighted the important events of the conference and the work of the organization, as reflected in part by selected abstracts from the conference. This editorial communicates the events of the 2020 conference, the third to be held in conjunction with the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM) and the first virtual conference. The conference was attended by over 800 participants and covered a wide range of topics, including addiction medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges of not being able to meet physically in Victoria, British Columbia as had been planned, the virtual event provided an opportunity to share current information in order to help advance prevention, treatment, policy and public helath efforts relating to addressing addictions and helping those impacted by these often devastating conditions.