OUR VICES COST ONTARIO A BUNDLE EACH YEAR

A recently-released study indicates tobacco, alcohol and illegal drug
abuse costs Ontario $14 billion a year.

That's the equivalent of $1,185 for each and every person in the
province, and that's a terrible waste of life, and a terrible waste
of health resources.

According to the study, Costs of Substance Abuse in Canada, the cost
includes both direct health care, criminal justice costs, and the
drain on productivity resulting from disability and premature death.

Tobacco use imposes the greatest cost at $6.1 billion or about 42.4
per cent of the total cost of substance abuse; alcohol accounts for
$5.3 billion, or 37.2 per cent and illegal drug use accounts for $2.9
billion or 20.4 per cent.

Ontario's costs are consistent with the overall results across the country.

Across the country tobacco costs us $17 billion (42.7 per cent),
alcohol $14.6billion (36.6 per cent), and illegal drugs $8. 2 billion
(20.7 per cent) for a total cost of $40 billion.

The direct health care costs of substance abuse in Canada are higher
than either heart disease or cancer.

Ontario's per capita cost for tobacco is the lowest of all ten provinces.

"While we cannot make direct comparisons between this study and the
previous study done 10 years ago, the data does indicate that harm
attributable to tobacco has gone down, whereas the harms of alcohol
and illegal drugs have relatively increased," principal investigator
Dr. Jurgen Rehm says.

"Substance abuse remains a substantial public heath problem for
Ontario, and not just for those with a psychiatric diagnosis of
dependence or abuse. For example, 50 per cent of the costs of alcohol
use and abuse are by people who do not have a diagnosis of alcohol
dependence or abuse," he says.

There is an urgent need to address the devastating costs of substance abuse.

Research in Canada and abroad clearly demonstrates government
regulation and policy measures are the most effective and
cost-effective tools in decreasing these costs, he adds. For example,
extensive government resources to reduce the cost of tobacco have
shown results.

Senior scientist Dr. Roberta Ferrence, says there's a lot of work to be done.

"Key strategies for reducing the cost of tobacco use includes tax
increases, restrictions on use, reduced availability, and support for
quitting. We know that quitting relatively early in life greatly
reduces lifetime health and productivity costs," she says.

Senior scientist Dr. Robert Mann estimates reducing the legal blood
alcohol content (BAC) level for drivers to .05 from the current .08
mg per 100 ml of blood would decrease the number of fatalities by
between six and 18 per cent.

Research demonstrates that alcohol monopolies are an important tool
for governments to implement alcohol policies that control sales,
promote public health, curtail risk and reduce drinking-related
damage. Recent studies show alcohol advertising can act to increase
alcohol consumption and has been linked to increases in drinking and
drinking-related problems among youth.

Reducing the social costs of illegal drugs requires a different
approach. International research shows a harm reduction' approach,
combined with prevention, enforcement and treatment, is most effective.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) was the lead
organization on the study, working in partnership with addictions and
mental health agencies from across the country. It was guided by a
steering committee of representatives of government, addiction
agencies, private industry and academia.