SURVEY FINDS STAGGERING RISE IN DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE

The number of Canadians who say they have used marijuana or injectable
drugs in the past year has doubled in a decade, according to a major
new survey.

But addiction specialists still see alcohol abuse as the greater
problem.

Data from the Canada Addiction Survey, the most comprehensive
addictions survey ever done in Canada, present a disturbing picture of
a society increasingly dependent on mood-altering substances.

Fourteen per cent of respondents said they had used marijuana in the
last year, up from 7.4 per cent in 1994. About a third said they had
failed to control their marijuana use.

About 269,000 Canadians said they had used an injectable drug in the
past year, up from 132,000 in 1994. Nearly 4.1 million Canadians
reported using injectable drugs at least once in their life. That's up
from 1.7 million in 1994.

The proportion of drinkers rose to 79.3 per cent this year from 72.3
per cent in 1994. Seven per cent of respondents described themselves
as frequent heavy drinkers, up from 5.4 per cent in 1994.

Conservative justice critic Vic Toews said rising rates of abuse are
an indictment of federal drug policy, including the planned easing of
marijuana laws and the establishment of safe injection sites.

"Certainly the Liberal drug strategy is failing," he said. "The safe
injection sites aren't safe. There's more deaths in Vancouver than
before the safe injection sites were put in place.

"I am concerned about the decriminalization of marijuana or any other
drug. I am concerned that the government has not put forward a
national strategy to deal with the whole issue of addictions."

Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh rejected suggestions that the plan to
decriminalize possession of small quantities of marijuana is leading
to increased use.

"We have the current laws in place at this time, they haven't been
changed and the rate is going up, so obviously we're not doing
something right. I would focus on the drug strategy, which is the
issue of education."

Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan said the government is not
legalizing marijuana and considers it a health threat. "All we're
doing is changing the penalty regime."

Researchers who conducted the study said that drug laws appear to be a
relatively minor factor in determining drug use. They suggested that a
much broader understanding of drug abuse is needed.

"This is both a good-news and bad-news story," Michel Perron of the
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse told a news conference Wednesday.

"Despite the fact that most Canadians drink in moderation and without
harm, we are concerned about heavy drinking among youth aged 18 to
24.

"The increasing use of cannabis by Canadian youth is also an area of
concern because we know cannabis is not a benign substance."

Nova Scotians were consistent with other Canadians in the areas of
high-risk drinking and marijuana use. But when it comes to binge
drinking, Bluenoses were well above the national rate.

The survey showed that the rate of heavy, infrequent drinkers in Nova
Scotia was 9.2 per cent, compared to the national rate of 5.6.

The province's minister of health promotion called the discovery
troubling but not surprising.

"The Office of Health Promotion had already identified problem
drinking as the key area that the addictions prevention branch needs
to focus on in Nova Scotia," Rodney MacDonald said in a release Wednesday.

"These findings give us more accurate and up-to-date numbers on the
problem so that we can come up with the right strategies to help people."

The rate of heavy, frequent drinkers in Nova Scotia is the
fourth-highest in the country at 8.1 per cent, after Newfoundland, New
Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

MacDonald said the Office of Health Promotion will examine the new
data and implement programs to target the groups most at risk.

"This is why the office was formed," he said. "To shine a light on
exactly what's harming us and to address it head-on with the right
programs."

Robert Hanson of Health Canada said the department is working on a
campaign targeted at young people to discourage marijuana and alcohol
use.

Ed Adlaf of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health said alcohol is
the greatest concern because it affects the most people. He said about
20 per cent of adults are drinking hazardously.

Adlaf said he is also concerned that 18 per cent of marijuana users
are using the drug daily and about a third say they can't control their use.

Males were more likely than females to have used the drug, and young
people had a higher rate of use than older Canadians.

The survey also suggests usage increases with education, rising to 52
per cent for those with post-secondary education from 35 per cent
among high school dropouts.

The updated information comes as the federal government moves to
decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot.

The pro-marijuana group NORML Canada says the survey clearly shows
that cannabis laws have failed to deter people from using the drug.

The survey was sponsored by Health Canada, the Canadian Executive
Council on Addictions and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.