BOOZE, DRUGS KILLING THOUSANDS

Smokers, Drinkers, Addicts, Club Drug Users Taxing Health-Care System

Thousands of British Columbians are literally drinking, drugging and
smoking themselves to death, says a five-year snapshot of substance
abuse by the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research of B.C.

The picture is particularly dismal on Vancouver Island where, unlike
some other areas of B.C., the number of alcohol-related deaths is
increasing, said CARBC director Tim Stockwell.

"There are considerable regional variations in trends. . . .
Vancouver Island has shown an upward trend," he said.

The report estimates that, between 2002 and 2006 in B.C., there were
4,431 deaths caused by alcohol, 1,814 caused by illicit drugs and
22,972 by tobacco.

Between 2003 and 2007, there were 89,065 hospitalizations caused by
alcohol, 22,381 by illicit drugs and 134,441 by tobacco.

That represents a 36.6 per cent hike in people taken to hospital
because of illicit drugs, 3.4 per cent increase for alcohol and a 7.8
per cent decrease for tobacco-related hospital visits.

Victoria is singled out as the centre where illegal drug use is more
likely to be cocaine and crack cocaine, compared to Vancouver where
amphetamines, crystal meth, heroin and magic mushrooms are more popular.

High-risk groups surveyed in all areas of the province-- such as
intravenous drug users and recreational club drug users -- said most
drugs were easy to obtain, the report says.

Cocaine use is a problem for users and for the health-care system,
especially when mixed with alcohol.

"It can trigger psychotic episodes when people go on a binge,"
Stockwell said. The combination tends to "completely mess up" the
nervous system.

"They complement each other so beautifully and so disastrously and
people end up using more of both."

But, while figures on the use of illicit drugs are eye-catching and
alarming, Stockwell does not want anyone to lose sight of the
alcohol-related figures. Users ending up in hospital are not the
traditional street alcoholics.

"Most of the deaths would not be people you would recognize as
alcoholics. There are 60 different ways in which alcohol can kill
you, even at a relatively low level," he said.

Almost a dozen types of cancer are linked to alcohol and half a
bottle of wine a day should be regarded as risky, Stockwell said. On
Vancouver Island in 2007, the report estimates that 410 people per
100,000 were hospitalized because of alcohol use.

To see the report go to www.carbc.ca.