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This document is archival in nature and is intended Le présent document a une valeur archivistique et for those who wish to consult archival documents fait partie des documents d’archives rendus made available from the collection of Public Safety disponibles par Sécurité publique Canada à ceux Canada. qui souhaitent consulter ces documents issus de sa collection. Some of these documents are available in only one official language. Translation, to be provided Certains de ces documents ne sont disponibles by Public Safety Canada, is available upon que dans une langue officielle. Sécurité publique request. Canada fournira une traduction sur demande. SERVING CANADIANS Research and Statistics Division questions & answers February 2003 www.canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/rs Drug Use and Offending by: Nathalie Quann, Research Analyst Q1. How has drug legislation changed recently? Table of Contents Q1. How has drug legislation changed recently? .................................................1 Since May 1997, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act governs all drug offences in Canada. Q2. What are the most recent Canadian statistics on drug use? ............................2 Prior to 1997, the two most important federal statutes dealing with Q3. What is the public attitude towards illicit drugs were the Narcotics Control Act (NCA) and the Food and decriminalization of drugs? ...................4 Drugs Act (FDA). The Narcotics Control Act governed over 120 different types of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, opium, and Q4. What do Canadians think about the cannabis. The NCA did not distinguish one drug from another. For medical use of soft drugs? ......................5 example, cannabis and cocaine offenders were subject to the same Q5. How is the health care system affected criminal procedures and penalties. The Food and Drugs Act governed by drug use and abuse? ..........................5 the regulation of pharmaceutical drugs, food, cosmetics, and medical devices. Two parts most specifically dealt with the non-medical use Q6. How many drug offences were reported of specific drugs: Part III governed "controlled drugs" (such as by the police in 2000? ............................6 amphetamines, barbiturates, testosterone) while Part IV governed Q7. Are offenders always charged by the "restricted drugs" (such as LSD, and other hallucinogenic drugs). police when drugs are involved? ...........7 The maximum penalties were less strict under the FDA than the NCA. Q8. Over the past 20 years, has there been a The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) change in the drug offence rate reported by the police? .........................................7 In May 1997, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) was Q9. Are there provincial/territorial differences adopted in Parliament to replace both the NCA and the FDA. This in the proportions and rates of drug new legislation does the following: offences reported by the police? ............9 ...continued on p.2 Q&A’S ON DRUG USE AND OFFENDING Q10. How often are youth and females charged with 4) Production drug offences? ......................................................9 5) Importation and Exportation 6) Prescription Shopping (also known as Q11. How are drug offences disposed of in adult and "double doctoring" which consists of youth courts? .....................................................10 obtaining a prescription from a practitioner Q12. What types of sentences are given to drug without disclosing that a prescription for offenders? ...........................................................10 that same controlled drug had been obtained within the previous 30 days) Q13. What kinds of sentence lengths/fines are given to adult offenders for drug offences? .................11 Appendix A: Controlled Drugs and Substances Act Federal Drug Offence Penalties Scheduled Drugs.....................................13 The maximum penalties under the Controlled Drugs and Appendix B: Tables ......................................................17 Substances Act for most of the offences are severe. For instance, for offences such as trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, production, importation and 1) Consolidates the illicit drug legislation into exportation, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment, one comprehensive act; when it involves any Schedule I1 drug. The maximum 2) Creates a new offence - Production of a penalties for cannabis offences, if lesser quantities are controlled substance; involved are significantly lower than for cocaine or heroin. 3) Expands the scope of the offences - offences However, importation and exportation of cannabis include not only the substances listed in the remains a serious offence and the maximum penalty act but also those substances having similar remains life imprisonment. Depending on the drug types chemical structure as a controlled (Schedules I to IV), the penalties differ considerably as substance; penalties for Schedule III and IV drugs are lower than for 4) Decreases some of the previous maximum Schedule I and II drugs. sentences but increases others - for example, the maximum penalty for Source: Criminal Code of Canada, Controlled Drugs and trafficking cannabis and possession of Substances Act. cannabis for the purpose of trafficking was reduced from life imprisonment to Q2.What are the most recent Canadian imprisonment of five years minus one day, statistics on drug use? but only if 3kg or less was involved; 5) Incorporates some changes triggered by decisions under the Charter of Rights and Recent drug use surveys were done in Ontario with a Freedoms - for example, the minimum sample of high school students, as well as a national study sentence under the NCA for importing and of university students was undertaken recently in Canada. exporting narcotics was seven years. The Worldwide statistics also are available through the United Supreme Court ruled that such a high Nations’ Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention minimum sentence of imprisonment (ODCCP). violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (1999) Major Offence Types The Ontario Survey is the longest ongoing study of youth drug use in Canada done by the Centre for Addiction and The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act consists of six Mental Health. This survey has been conducted every two common drug offences as well as two drug-related years since 1977. In 1999, close to 5,000 high school offences: students participated in this survey, administered by the Institute for Social Research at York University. All 1) Possession students from grades 7 to 13 inclusively were surveyed 2) Trafficking about their consumption patterns of alcohol, cigarettes, 3) Possession for the purpose of trafficking and licit or illicit drugs. These data are available by 1 See Appendix A for a list of all scheduled drugs under the CDSA. 2 | Questions & Answers www.canada.justice.gc.ca/ps/rs gender, by grade and by region. For more information on World Drug Report (2001) this study, please visit http://www.camh.net/addiction/ont_study_drug_use.html. The latest United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) results in their World Drug Report estimate that the extent The most common drugs used by students in this survey of drug abuse in the world involves about 180 million were cannabis, hallucinogens and stimulants. The results people, which represents 3% of the global population. The showed that almost one-third (29%) of students in Ontario majority of drug users (80%) used cannabis, followed by had used cannabis in the past year: 34% of males and 25% amphetamine-type stimulants such as of females. Almost one-half (48%) of grade 11 students methamphetamine, amphetamine and substances of the had used cannabis in the past year compared to 4% of ecstasy group (16%), cocaine (8%), heroin (5%) and other grade 7 students. For hallucinogens, one-in-six (16%) opiates (2%).2 males and 11% of females had used this drug type in the past year, and proportions varied between 1% for grade 7 An analysis of prevalence estimates of specific drug types students and 25% for grade 13 students. Higher was undertaken using data collected in the late 1990s. proportions of females than males had used stimulants in the past year (10% versus 6% respectively), and Cannabis Use proportions varied between 13% of grade 13 students to 2% of grade 7 students (see Appendix B, Table 1 for more Of the estimated 144.1 million users of cannabis, the information). UNDCP estimates that the highest proportion lives in Asia (37%), followed by Africa (19%), North America (15%), Canadian Campus Survey (1998) Western Europe (12%), South America (10%), Eastern Europe and Oceania (3% each). These users represent The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health also almost 20% of Oceania's population aged