LEGAL, ILLEGAL DRUG USE COSTS SOCIETY $40-BILLION ANNUALLY, AGENCY REPORTS

Drug use is exacting a large and growing financial toll on Canadian
society, according to researchers who put the annual cost near
$40-billion.

A report by the national addictions agency issued yesterday shows that
users of alcohol and tobacco incur the vast majority of the total
cost. The use of illegal drugs accounts for about 20 per cent of the
total.

Lost productivity of $24.3-billion was the single biggest cost in
2002, the most recent year for which figures are available, followed
by $8.8-billion in health-care costs.

"That's a staggering number when you consider the priority with which
Canadians are looking to health care," said Michel Perron, chief
executive of the Ottawa-based Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, an
arms-length information agency supported by Health Canada.

"Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs account for 20 per cent of all
acute-care hospital beds in Canada today," he said.

The law-enforcement costs of both legal and illegal drug use are
pegged at $5.4-billion, which Mr. Perron said represents roughly half
the cost of the criminal-justice system.

The CCSA study takes into account any cost to society caused by drug
use, no matter how small. As such, it includes costs incurred by a
wide range of people and not simply hard-core addicts.

About 80 per cent of people who drink alcohol cause no social cost,
said Jurgen Rehm, the study's principal investigator, but that leaves
a large number of people, many of whom do not fit a psychiatric
definition of dependency.

"It is not a small minority," Dr. Rehm said. "We are speaking not
about the odd user, the alcoholic in the street with the two-litre
bottle of wine. These are occurring across society."

Mr. Perron said that costs were assessed a decade earlier at less than
half the figure released yesterday. But he cautioned that comparing
the two studies is difficult.

"The costs of substance abuse in Canada are significant and rising. I
think this is a wake-up call. . . . Canadians are using these
substances in a manner that is costing a lot of money."

Yesterday's report pegged the direct and indirect costs of drug use in
2002 at $38.9-billion. That amounts to an average of $1,267 for each
Canadian.

The largest component of the cost was largely from disability or
premature death, which accounted for 61 per cent of the total.
Health-care costs accounted for another 22 per cent and law
enforcement for 14 per cent.

In terms of specific drug costs, tobacco was most expensive to
society, costing a total of $17-billion for the year studied. Alcohol
cost another $14.6-billion and illegal drugs a further
$8.2-billion.

Not included were the private costs incurred by the user in pursuit of
the drug. And the study did not include revenue generated by the
purchase of alcohol and tobacco, which are heavily taxed by government.

"We could not have included those [tax] benefits, but we have included
the health benefits of these substances," Dr. Rehm said, referring to
studies that indicate moderate consumption of wine is beneficial to
the heart.

Mr. Perron said the report is not intended to demonize drugs used
without problem by millions of Canadians.

"This report by no means suggests that we banish alcohol. It's not an
either/or scenario. We need to . . . avoid a shotgun approach and
understand where the costs lie."

Mr. Perron and Dr. Rehm rejected the notion that advocates of
decriminalization, who often cite the law-enforcement costs of keeping
marijuana illegal, might be able to use the report to buttress their
case.

"The legalization of marijuana in other countries has not necessarily
reduced the costs of [policing]," Dr. Rehm said. "There are no simple
answers like 'legalize this and the problems will go away.' "

Mr. Perron added that alcohol itself incurs plenty of law-enforcement
costs, despite being legal for adults.