Profile of Those Who Drink & Use Drugs

Note: the following information is  provided by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's Alcohol, Other Drugs and Related Harms in Ontario 2008 report.

Youth in School

• 61 per cent of Ontario students said they drank alcohol at least once in the last year.
• 30 per cent of students who report drinking alcohol say they drink at hazardous level.
• 26 per cent of school-attending youth report having used cannabis (marijuana) at least once in the previous year.

Ontario Student Drug Use Survey, 2009 Detailed Report

College & University Students

• 84 per cent of Ontario college and university students said they drank alcohol at least once in the last year.
• 19 per cent of those who drink report heavy episodic drinking.
• 45.1 per cent of those who drink have reported harmful consequences.

Canadian Campus Survey, 2004

Street Youth

A study of street youth in Canada found that:

• 75 per cent said they had used alcohol in the previous three months.
• 23 per cent said they had used injection drugs in their life.

Drug Overdose card.

Emergency Housing in Waterloo Region brochure.

Street Outreach in Waterloo Region brochure.

Older Adults

• 76.7 per cent of Canadians aged 55-64, 70 per cent of 65- to 74-year-olds.
• 64.4 per cent of those over 75 reported drinking at least once in the last year.

Alcohol affects older adults differently because of age-related physiological changes, declining health and medication use.

They may experience problems sooner, and at a lower level of alcohol consumption.

Home Safety Checklist

CAMH - Responding to Older Adults

Multiple Problems:  People with Concurrent Disorders

People experiencing mental health issues have a higher risk of also having a substance use problem.

Similarly, people with a substance use problem have an increased risk of having a mental health issue.

• 16.1 per cent of people diagnosed with a mental disorder experienced a substance abuse problem sometime in the preceding year.
• 27.5 per cent of people diagnosed with a current alcohol problem will also be diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their life.

Concurrent Disorders Information Guide

The Homeless

A Toronto study found that over their lifetime...

• 33 per cent of homeless people had a substance-abuse diagnosis.
• 20 per cent currently had a substance-abuse diagnosis.

According to this study, of people using shelters...

• 65 per cent used cocaine.
• 41 per cent used analgesics.
• 39 per cent used tranquillizers.
• 35 per cent used sedatives.

Drug Overdose card.

Emergency Housing in Waterloo Region brochure.

Street Outreach in Waterloo Region brochure.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-Gendered

Discrimination toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered people is widespread.

Some research suggests that gay people use substances to cope with discrimination.

There appears to be prevalent drug use and heavy drinking among young lesbians and gay males, and among some older groups of lesbians and gay men.

Issues to consider.

In the Workplace

In a typical workplace,

• alcoholism and excessive drinking affects 10 to 20 per cent of all employees.
• 2 to 7 per cent use illicit drugs.

Alcohol use, including dependence, abuse or heavy drinking, lowers worker productivity.

Check the Workplace Health website for more information.

Stigma

Substance-use problems affect all ages, education and income levels, religions and cultures (CAMH).

You probably know someone with a substance use problem.

• 1 in 7 Canadians aged fifteen and older have alcohol-related problems.
• 1 in 20 have cannabis-related issues.

Nevertheless, there tends to be a stigma -- negative attitudes  or prejudice and negative behaviour such as discrimination - associated with people who have substance-use and mental-health problems.

We need to remember that mental health and substance use problems are health problems in the same way as cancer, arthritis, diabetes or heart attacks are health problems.

Effects of Prejudice & Discrimination

Prejudice and discrimination limit people's ability to:

• Get and keep a job.
• Get and keep a safe place to live.
• Get health care (including treatment for substance use and mental health problems or other support).
• Find and make friends or keep long-term relationships.

Such situations lead them to believe negative remarks made about them.

They have lower self-esteem because of the guilt and shame they feel, and tend to avoid getting help they need.

The result is that their problems are less likely to decline or go away.

DISCRIMINATION on people with mental health and substance use problems.