1.3 Incidents of Drug Use and Economic Implications

When we think of substance use we think of the person struggling with Drug Use instead of looking at it through the lens of how drug use has economic implication to all of us.  Substance use has a big impact on our economy and not just Canada’s health.

Some of the areas that it affects include:  healthcare, criminal justice, communities, lost productivity and health and wellness. When we take into consideration the economic, health and social costs of substance use in Canada allows public health experts to:

• Identify information gaps and research needs;
• Determine the effectiveness of harm reduction programs.
• Create new programs where there are gaps and research needs;
• Focus on the harms that impact are caused by substance abuse
• Improve health care systems to record the impact

CCSA has worked collaborating with  Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms project to publish detailed information with reports and infographics providing in-depth information around costs and harms of substance use in Canada.

Online data visualization tool  is interactive and allows users to explore the costs and harms of substance use by the following categories (data from the years 2015-–2017).  You can create your own graphs, maps and data to see the trends in the harms that are created, and the cost due to substance use in Canada

Food for Thought

When we look at the Incidents of Drug Use and Economic Implications in Canada through Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems, we can see the complex system of multiple layers that are impacted.

These systems include:  family, school, cultural values, laws, customs, environments, finances, services, health care, and policies, and environment

 

In Canada the current state Incidents of Drug Use and Economic Implications continues to worsen and there is an overdose crisis which is exacerbated by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.  On March 23, 2022 Public Health Agency of Canada issues a statement around the data that was collected on opioid and stimulant related harms – January 2016 to September 2021.  

 

Although most of the opioid-related deaths continue to be accidental, there is a public health crisis that continues to affect communities across the country and with people from all cultures, walks of lives and communities. The use of a stimulant (e.g., cocaine, methamphetamine) is prevalent, and is underscoring the polysubstance nature of the overdose crisis.

What Does Substance Use in Canada Cost?

The four substances associated with the largest costs are: alcohol, Tobacco, Opioids and Cocaine.   The Cost affects economic, public health, personal health, communities, families, work environments, and health care to name a few.

ATTRIBUTION:  This chapter is not covered by the adaptation statement, it is an original work. with Canadian Content