Drug Rehabilitation Strategies in The True North
The Federal government of Canada has outlined five main tasks, or objective to get accomplished for handling the growing drug problems in Canada. These objectives are: to reduce the demand for drugs, reduce the drug related mortality rate, improve the effectiveness of substance information, restrict the supply of illicit drugs and trafficking, and reduce the cost of substance abuse.
Drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation in Canada
The government of Canada has put a focus on reducing the supply and demand. They are working together with all governments, addiction agencies, non-governmental agencies, professional associations, law enforcement agencies, private sectors, and community groups.
Taking an approach like this requires different components; the specific components the Federal government is using consist of research/knowledge development, knowledge dissemination, prevention programming, treatment and rehabilitation, legislation enforcement and control, and international co-operation. The Federal government is doing what it can to combat the drug problems facing Canada, but is it enough. There arguments for both sides, either way more can always be done. The Controlled Drug and Substance Act (CDSA) is the main piece of legislation that monitors the importation, production, distribution, possession of various drugs and substances. This is the largest piece of Federal legislation that helps battle the drug problems facing Canada; yet, once again, how effective is it, there are of course arguments on both sides.
When individuals are charged under the CDSA, it will not always result in the person being charged having a criminal record. Also, judges have considerable discretion in sentencing offenders under the CDSA, which means not every person arrested for drug or alcohol charges receive any form of punishment. One of the major reasons for this is the over crowding of prisons, the back log of cases, and the long waiting lists at government ran drug rehabilitation programs. Some of this legislation does; however, allow multiple offenders under the CDSA to be admitted into drug rehabilitation programs, they are given the option to seek treatment, and in some cases are court ordered. In 1992 the total cost for health, social, and economic costs of alcohol and illicit drugs to the Canadian society reached 8.8 billion dollars. The Direct health care costs for alcohol and illicit drugs reached 1.4 billion dollars.
More can always be done, especially in the forms of prevention and drug rehabilitation. Provincially ran drug rehabilitation programs have long waiting lists, and require a great deal of red tape to go through in order to enter them. The private sector is picking up as much of the slack as possible; yet, there are still many financial restraints to many people who cannot afford private programs. However, progress is slowly being made, but more can still be done to help battle a problem that does affect the entire country.
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2 Responses to “Drug Rehabilitation Strategies in The True North”
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Canada & U.S.A. are currently too involved in a love affair with Detox & Rehab centers that offer no solutions, except more drugs.
Oh, sorry, I meant to write “medication”, because clearly an opiate addicts’ body is deficient in methadone, and it will make all our problems go away.
I suppose that is technically correct, if you consider the addict to be your problem – s/he will die eventually; certainly faster on drugs than off them. Opiates are good at shutting people up, in more ways than one.
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