Pubdate: Thu, 23 Aug 2007
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Laura Payton

DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE LOWER THAN AVERAGE

City's 12.57-Per-Cent Rate Is Less Than Canada's

VANCOUVER - The level of drug and alcohol abuse in Vancouver is lower 
than the Canadian average, says a study by the Centre for Addiction 
and Mental Health.

About one in 10 Canadians has a substance-use problem, which the 
study defines as anyone who says their use of alcohol or other drugs 
interferes significantly with their life.

The study found more drug and alcohol problems in mid-sized cities 
than in big cities or rural areas.

"From my perspective, the interest that's been generated about the 
data so far . . . I think it's maybe challenging some important 
preconceived notions about large, urban centres," said John Cairney, 
a co-author of the report. "People can have those problems and not be 
visible to the external community."

Vancouver's drug and alcohol abuse rate is 10.76 per cent, higher 
than Toronto at 7.76 and Montreal at 8.08, but lower than the 12.57 
per cent average for other metropolitan areas.

B.C.'s 12.85-per-cent average is higher than the 11-per-cent national rate.

The urban corridor between Toronto and Montreal came in relatively 
low compared to the rest of the country, with Alberta, Saskatchewan, 
Manitoba and Nova Scotia joining B.C. in the worse-than-average category.

While age, sex, employment and health are factors that could help 
explain the difference, they wouldn't account for such a wide gap -- 
more than five per cent, for example -- between Toronto and the 
average for medium-sized cities.

Cairney said high levels of immigration to the biggest cities could 
also affect the numbers, because immigrants tend to be healthier and 
some immigrant communities reject alcohol and drug use.

People who are homeless due to drug and alcohol addictions likely 
wouldn't be counted in the study.

"Those individuals are likely not going to even get into a StatsCan 
study in the first place because they're either not going to respond 
or they're not going to be available to Statistics Canada when 
they're collecting this data," said Cairney.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman