Information

May 2003

Canada's Drug Strategy

Canada's Drug Strategy is a federally coordinated initiative to reduce the harm associated with the use of narcotics and controlled substances and the abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs. Working with the Department of Justice Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Solicitor General of Canada, other federal partners, and provincial and territorial governments, as well as addictions agencies, non-governmental organizations, such as the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, professional associations, law enforcement agencies, the private sector and community groups, Health Canada provides leadership and national coordination for the Strategy.

This Strategy addresses underlying factors associated with substance use and abuse. It includes education, prevention and health promotion initiatives as well as enhanced enforcement measures. The Strategy aims to have all Canadians live in a society increasingly free of the harms associated with substance abuse by reducing both the demand for, and supply of, drugs. The Government of Canada will invest $245 million over five years to this end.

Substance abuse is a devastating health problem with negative social, public safety and economic consequences for all Canadians. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse has estimated that, even in 1992, the costs associated with substance abuse in Canada totaled $9B annually for areas including health care, law enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration. Public security is also threatened as the use, production and movement of illegal substances is a principle source of revenue for organized crime. For example, there are an estimated several thousand marijuana grow operations in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and the Greater Toronto area is estimated to have approximately the same number. Of Canada's 125,000 injection drug users, approximately 30% have HIV and a further 60% have Hepatitis C (2001 FPT report on Injection Drug Use). Substance abuse among prison inmates and among youth is increasing and the average age of first use is decreasing (2001 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey).

Progress to Date

In 1987, the Government of Canada launched Canada's first Drug Strategy to address substance abuse problems. The Strategy provided a balance of measures to reduce the demand for and supply of illicit substances based on four pillars:

• Education about the dangers of substance abuse and information on how to adopt healthy behaviors;
• Enforcement measures to halt the unlawful import, export, production, distribution and possession of controlled substances;
• Treatment activities directed at those who have developed an unhealthy dependency on licit and illicit substances; and,
• Harm reduction measures to limit the secondary effects of substance abuse, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C.

Since then, a great deal has been accomplished. For instance:

• In January 2003, new measures were put in place to minimize the diversion of precursor chemicals used in clandestine laboratories to produce illicit drugs such as ecstasy;
• Over the past decade - Canada Customs and Revenue Agency has seized more than 189 metric tonnes of cocaine, opiates and cannabis products, a street value of $5.8 billion;
• In addition, since 1999, more than 134 tonnes of cocaine, opiates and cannabis products have been seized as a direct result of RCMP investigations;
• Provision of Alcohol and Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation programming through cost sharing agreements with the provinces and territories totalling an approximate $14 million annually;
• Extensive programming to help reduce substance abuse among Canada's offender population, including Corrections Canada's Offender Substance Abuse Pre-Release Program; and programming such as peer education counseling to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases;
• Drug awareness community programming for youth, parents, athletes, coaches, employees and employers by the RCMP as part of its Drug Awareness Service; and,
• Drug treatment courts, one in Toronto and another in progress for Vancouver, implemented by the Department of Justice Canada; and,
• $25 million to reduce fetal alcohol syndrome on reserve, announced in the December 2001 Budget; $11 million over three years for the FAS/FAE Initiative, announced in January 2000; and ongoing support for support for initiatives under Health Canada's Community Action Program for Children and the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program.

Renewing the Commitment

The need for a renewed strategy has been well documented in reports by the Auditor General of Canada (December 2001), the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs (September 2002) and the House Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs (December 2002). Both Parliamentary committees held wide consultations across Canada and heard from enforcement officials, international associations, governments, health organizations, academia, the medical community, national and local voluntary organizations, as well as individuals. By renewing and implementing a Drug Strategy for Canada, the Government of Canada responds to these reports and fulfills its commitment in the 2002 Speech From the Throne.

Health Canada, in close collaboration with its partners, will take the lead on implementing and coordinating this renewed Strategy by investing in:

• increased government and stakeholder coordination and funds to support community-based prevention, treatment and harm reduction initiatives;
• enhanced partnerships, education programs and interventions designed to discourage and treat substance abuse, particularly amongst youth;
• new research activities, including funding for statistical analysis of drug trends to enable more effective decision-making;
• updated legislation and drug policy to reflect today's modern society; and,
• new enforcement resources to address marijuana grow operations, clandestine chemical laboratories, and drugs concealed in marine containers.

The Government of Canada's commitment to a comprehensive, renewed strategy will involve reporting to Parliament and Canadians every two years on the Strategy's direction and progress, particularly with respect to the following key objectives:

• decrease the prevalence of harmful drug use;
• decrease the number of young Canadians who experiment with drugs;
• decrease the incidence of communicable diseases related to substance abuse;
• increase the use of alternative justice measures like drug treatment courts;
• decrease the illicit drug supply and address new and emerging drug trends; and
• decrease avoidable health, social, and economic costs.

The renewed strategy takes into account national health and social policies, the priorities of Canadians and the need to respect Canada's obligations under international conventions. Ongoing collaboration with all levels of government and other key partners, enhanced enforcement measures as well as education, prevention, and health promotion activities are an integral part of this commitment. To ensure that the strategy responds to the changing needs of communities over time a biennial conference will bring all partners, including voluntary sector organizations, enforcement officials, and all levels of government, together for full discussions on the Strategy's directions.

The Strategy will also address the growing problem of large-scale marijuana grow operations and the export of illegal drugs across our shared Canada-US border. The Drug Strategy builds on many efforts already taken to stop smuggling and target organized crime such as Integrated Border Enforcement Teams, Integrated Proceeds of Crime units and enhanced enforcement targeting organized criminals using Canada's three largest international airports as points of entry.