DRUG USE ON RISE, STUDY WARNS

StatsCan Points Out That 321,000 Of Us Have Used Cocaine Or Crack

The number of Canadians aged 15 or older who admit to getting high on
marijuana or hashish nearly doubled in 13 years, with the highest
rates among teenagers, figures released today by Statistics Canada
say.

About three million people in that age group reported that they used
cannabis at least once in the year before the Canadian Community
Health Survey, which was conducted in 2002.

The StatsCan study also found more people were taking five other
drugs: cocaine or crack, ecstasy, LSD and other hallucinogens,
amphetamines (speed), and heroin.

Overall, 2.4 per cent of Canadians 15 or older reported using at least
one of these drugs in the past year, up from 1.6 per cent in 1994. An
estimated 321,000 people, or 1.3 per cent, had used cocaine or crack,
making it the most commonly used of these other drugs.

When it came to pot and hashish, 6.5 per cent of Canadians reported
using the drugs in 1989 and 7.4 per cent in 1994. By 2002, that
proportion had reached 12.2 per cent.

Almost half (47 per cent) of those who had used cannabis in the
previous year had done so less than once a month. About 10 per cent
reported they had used it on a weekly basis, and another 10 per cent
reported smoking up daily.

Men were more likely than women to report having used cannabis in the
past year: 15.5 per cent of men compared with 9.1 per cent of women.
The proportion of men was higher in all age groups except 15 to 17,
where there was no difference between the sexes.

Marijuana and hashish use was most prevalent among young people, and
its use peaked in the late teens. Almost four of every 10 teens aged
18 or 19 reported having used marijuana or hashish in the past year.
The proportion among 15- to 17-year-olds was about three in 10.

Cannabis use drops off after age 24, although numbers in the 25-34 and
35-44 age groups were still substantial, the report said.

Although most Canadians were not current users of illicit drugs in
2002, more than 10 million reported having tried cannabis at least
once in their lifetime. These people represented 41.3 per cent of the
population aged 15 or older. Excluding one-time users would drop the
proportion to 32 per cent.

Again, men were more likely than women to have tried cannabis at least
once. Lifetime use was highest among young adults aged 18 to 24,
StatsCan reported.