ALCOHOL CALLED WORSE PROBLEM THAN DRUG ABUSE

OTTAWA -- Days after the federal government unveiled a budget that
earmarked $64 million for a national anti-drug strategy, a new report
says the social and economic costs associated with alcohol are twice
as high as those racked up by illegal drug use.

The study says Canadians have an exaggerated view of the harms
associated with illegal drugs, possibly fueled by vivid media
reports, and the emphasis given the subject by police organizations,
political leaders and policy-makers.

The study, released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre on Substance
Abuse, suggests anti-drug strategies should include alcohol as a
significant part.

The study said the economic and social costs of alcohol abuse reached
$7.4 billion in 2002, more than twice the $3.6 billion associated
with illicit drug use. But Canadians' perceptions of the two problems
were out of whack with those figures, the study found.

It said that while only 25 per cent of Canadians identified alcohol
abuse as "very serious" national problem, 45 per cent felt illicit
drug use was "very serious."

"The divergence between the perceived seriousness and actual costs
points to the need to reset public misconceptions about the size and
scope of illicit drug abuse in Canada, especially injection drug use,
and to better educate Canadians about the significant and largely
unrecognized risks of alcohol," Rita Notarandrea, the centre's
director of research and policy, said in releasing the report.

The report comes after the minority Conservative government announced
plans in its March 19 budget to spend $64 million over the next two
years to combat the use of illegal drugs.