Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Services (DOCAS)

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Drug Awareness | Organized Crime Awareness

Drug Awareness

Frequently Asked Questions

The RCMP believes in employing a two-pronged approach to illicit drugs – one that emphasizes demand and supply reduction because this is the way to reduce the use and abuse of illicit drugs.

The goal of the RCMP’s Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Service (DOCAS) is to prevent drug-related social and economic harm by reducing the supply and demand for illicit drugs with the understanding that the drug problem is one of global proportions.

A strong integrated approach to the global drug problem involves prevention, education, enforcement, counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation. Together these are most likely to achieve long term success for drug-related issues.

In addition to being a major public health problem, drug abuse is a social problem with far-reaching implications. Stress, poverty, domestic and societal violence, and various diseases are sometimes thought to be spread by drug use.

A study conducted in 2002 by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) concluded that the social cost of substance abuse in Canada in 2002 was estimated to be 39.8 billion.

• Tobacco accounted for about $17 billion (42 per cent)
• Alcohol accounted for $14.6 billion (36.6 per cent)
• Illegal drugs for $8.2 billion (20.7 per cent).

Productivity losses amounted to $24.3 billion or (61 per cent) of the total, while health care costs were $8.8 billion (22.1 per cent). The third highest contributor to total substance-related costs was law enforcement with a cost of $5.4 billion or (13.6 per cent) of the total.