Backgrounder

National Anti-Drug Strategy

The National Anti-Drug Strategy is a collaborative effort involving the Department of Justice, Public Safety Canada and Health Canada, and includes three action plans: preventing illicit drug use; treating those with illicit drug dependencies; and combating the production and distribution of illicit drugs.

Prevention

The Prevention Action Plan focuses on preventing illicit drug use among young people.  It will provide information to those most affected by drug use, including parents, young people, educators, law enforcement authorities, and communities.

The Prevention Action Plan will:

• refocus existing community-based, drug-use prevention strategies, programs and services for youth;
• provide information directly to parents, educators, and health professionals;
• develop materials for school-based awareness and prevention strategies for elementary and secondary school students;
• discourage illicit drug use through a new, national public awareness campaign; and
• provide financial help to communities for local projects to tackle the growing challenge of illicit drug use among young people.

The Government of Canada has committed $30 million in new funding over five years to support the Prevention Action Plan.  This funding will bolster existing prevention efforts.

Treatment

The Treatment Action Plan supports innovative approaches to treating and rehabilitating those with illicit drug addiction who pose a risk to themselves and the community.

This Plan will promote collaboration among governments and support agencies to increase access to drug treatment services. It will:

• enhance treatment and support for First Nations and Inuit people;
• provide treatment programs for young offenders with drug-related problems;
• enable the RCMP to refer youth with drug-related problems to treatment programs;
• support research on new treatment models; and
• support provinces and territories to improve treatment systems and address critical treatment needs of at-risk youth and other vulnerable populations.

The Government of Canada has committed approximately $100 million in new funding over five years to support the Treatment Action Plan.  This funding will bolster existing treatment efforts.

Enforcement

The Enforcement Action Plan bolsters law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute drug crimes. It will increase law enforcement’s capacity to combat marihuana grow operations, synthetic drug production and distribution operations.

The Enforcement Action Plan will:

• provide funding to the RCMP so they can expand their dedicated anti-drug teams to help locate, investigate and shut down organizations involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs;
• provide resources to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to provide legal advice to law enforcement at the investigative stage and to effectively prosecute those involved with the production and distribution of illicit drugs;
• increase the number of Health Canada inspectors and investigators to ensure accurate and timely analysis of  suspected illicit drugs seized by law enforcement;
• increase the capacity of Canada Border Service Agency to inhibit the cross-border movement of precursor chemicals and illicit drugs;
• help law enforcement stop the flow of money that organized crime makes from the illicit drug trade;
• improve the ability of Canadian law enforcement officials to conduct joint investigations with their United States counterparts; and
• ensure that serious penalties are in place for serious drug crimes.

The Government of Canada has committed approximately $102 million in new funding over five years to support the Enforcement Action Plan.  An additional $67.7 million of funding will be made available under the Enforcement Action Plan if the proposed legislation on mandatory minimum penalties is passed.  This funding will bolster existing enforcement efforts.

Progress under the National Anti-Drug Strategy

To date, under the National Anti-Drug Strategy, the Government of Canada has:

• introduced legislation to ensure that serious penalties are in place for serious drug crimes;
• launched a prevention-focused awareness campaign, with input from the National Drug Prevention Advisory Committee, aimed at discouraging illicit drug use;
• announced more than $7 million in funding for Health Canada’s Community Initiatives Fund to help communities across Canada tackle the increasing challenge of illicit drug use by young people;
• announced $3.3 million in new funding to enhance the ability of Canada Border Services Agency to inhibit the cross-border flow of illicit drugs;
• invested $10 million in funding for a Drug Prevention Strategy for Canada’s Youth to be developed and implemented by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse;
• invested $8.9 million to strengthen the RCMP’s drug enforcement and Proceeds of Crime Teams;
• announced $111 million over five years for critical drug treatment initiatives for provinces and territories;
• announced $30.5 million over five years to bolster services across Canada that will help First Nations and Inuit who suffer from drug addictions;
• announce $10 million to support new treatment services that will help to treat individuals living in Vancouver's Downtown East Side;
• announced over $220,000 in funding for a drug treatment intervention program for Aboriginal youth with drug and gang involvement ; and
• announced $2 million to improve addictions services in Vancouver’s downtown eastside that will help First Nations and Inuit recover from addictions to alcohol and illicit drugs.

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August 2008