Pubdate: Mon, 20 Oct 2014
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Page: A7
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Peter O'Neil
Cited: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse: http://www.ccsa.ca
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada)

OTTAWA SHOULD STEP UP BATTLE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE: CENTRE

Booze Causes More Harm Than Drugs, Should Be in National
Anti-Drugstrategy

OTTAWA - The Harper government, which has waged a long and aggressive
campaign against illicit drug use, should put more energy into the
battle against alcohol abuse, according to the Canadian Centre on
Substance Abuse.

The Health Canada-funded organization wants the federal government to
include alcohol in its $570-million National Anti-Drug Strategy that
was launched shortly after the Conservatives took power in 2006.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, which has already gone public
to call on Ottawa to undertake a study on the public health
implications of decriminalization or legalization of pot, argues that
alcohol causes far more harm in Canada than drugs.

Alcohol causes more deaths than lung cancer and more hospital stays
than all other substances combined, the organization argues in a brief
submitted to the House of Commons finance committee that is seeking
public input on Budget 2015.

It is also closely linked to spousal abuse and fatal motor vehicle
crashes, and, according to a 2002 study on crime, the cost of
alcohol-related offences was $3.1 billion versus $2.3 billion for drug
offences.

"Renewed efforts to reduce the prevalence and harms of alcohol abuse
could alleviate burdens on our enforcement, justice, health and social
care systems," the centre stated in its submission to the finance
committee. A B.C. criminologist urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to
follow the advice of the independent federal body that provides advice
on substance abuse.

"The line that we have drawn between legal and illegal drugs has
everything to do with history, politics and culture, and almost
nothing to do with public health," said Neil Boyd, director of Simon
Fraser University's school of criminology.

"For most people and in most circumstances, alcohol is a drug that is
much more destructive to health than cannabis."

The federal government has allocated $570 million since 2007-08 for
its multi-pronged strategy that involves numerous departments, from
justice to Health Canada to foreign affairs.

Funded programs include those involved in gathering drug-related
foreign financial intelligence, forensic accounting, tax compliance,
border patrols, drug prosecution, drug treatment, and health promotion
and education efforts especially involving youth.

The proposal doesn't make a specific recommendation on how Ottawa
would bring alcohol into the strategy, but suggests the federal
government could join forces with the existing federal and provincial
government departments, organizations and the alcohol industry that
are already collaborating on ways to discourage excessive boozing.

"Given its overall emphasis on youth substance abuse prevention, the
National Anti-Drug Strategy also provides a mechanism by which the
Government of Canada can address alcohol abuse among the country's
young people, ensuring they have the best opportunity to enjoy
positive economic, social and health outcomes in later life."

A spokesman for Health Minister Rona Ambrose didn't comment on the
proposal, saying the government will review all submissions before the
budget is tabled in early 2015.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard