Abstract
This study describes the epidemiology of cocaine and heroin abuse in urban Canada as part of an initial report on a national substance abuse surveillance system, the Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use. Data pertaining to prevalence of use, law enforcement, treatment, morbidity and mortality of cocaine and heroin were obtained from the appropriate health and law enforcement institutions in six sentinel cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Cocaine and heroin appear to be more available in Vancouver than in the remaining cities. In all CCENDU cities, large proportions of persons in treatment programs for substance abuse identified cocaine as their major addiction; however, there is considerable variation in treatment utilization regarding heroin. Vancouver ranks first in terms of the per capita number of cocaine- and heroin-related hospital separations and mortality rate. Cocaine abuse appears to be an emerging problem in Calgary, Winnipeg and Halifax, and opiate abuse appears to be an emerging problem in Calgary.
Résumé
Cette étude épidémiologique décrit la consummation de cocaïne et d’opiacés dans six centres urbains canadiens. L’étude fait partie d’un système national de surveillance, soit le Réseau communautaire canadien de l’épidémiologie des toxicomanies (RCCET). On a recueilli des données sur la prevalence de la consommation, l’activité policière, le traitement, la morbidité et la mortalité, au niveau local à Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal et Halifax. Les principales observations qui se dégagent de cet exercice sont que la cocaïne et l’héroïne sont plus accessibles à Vancouver que dans les autres centres urbains. Dans chacune des six villes du Réseau, une part importante des services de traitement est consacrée à la dépendance cocaïnique. Par contraste, l’abus d’héroïne varie considérablement parmi les villes témoins. Le nombre de congés hospitaliers pour un diagnostic relié à la cocaïne et à l’héroïne est le plus élevée à Vancouver. La cocaïne parait être un problème naissant à Calgary, Winnipeg et Halifax. À Calgary, les indicateurs de morbidité et de mortalité révèlent que les opiacés sont aujourd’hui un problème.
Footnotes
Funding provided by National Health Research and Development Program, Health Canada
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