Health committee  If I may just add on the same topic of drug-affected driving, a recent report issued by the International Narcotics Control Board, in 2013, cites that cannabis is the most prevalent illicit drug detected in drivers in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The same report also ci

Health committee  Thank you for the question. Thank you, Hilary. In regard to the two approved products that Ms. Geller referred to as Sativex and Cesamet, I'll just situate things. As I'm sure everyone knows there's a very rigorous process in place for the approval of drug products in Canada u

Health committee  Madam Chair, I will turn the question over to Dr. Stewart, who I think is best placed to speak to the drug approval process in this particular case of generic OxyContin. If there is an opportunity after he responds to provide some data that we're aware of in the way of uptake of

Health committee  Absolutely. There is no doubt, as I mentioned, that it's a shared responsibility. Some work is already under way. In fact at the recent health ministers meeting, the federal, provincial and territorial health ministers actually endorsed a proposal that provides early opportunitie

Health committee  I would say generally that's one of the challenges. First of all, even having the data available is a challenge. Then, of course, there's finding a way of sharing it. One of the challenges that exists with prescription drug abuse information is that it's not collected in every

Health committee  I would say that the U.S. does have.... I wouldn't necessarily say they're ahead of us, but since 2011 they clearly are.... We're only second to the United States, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, in terms of this challenge.

Health committee  I do think that progress has been made in particular in the areas of first nations and Inuit. My colleague, Ms. Bruce, can probably speak to some of the advancements made in that area. With respect to the surveys, questions relating to prescription drug abuse have been included

Health committee  On OxyContin, perhaps I could ask my colleague, Dr. Stewart, to speak to—

Health committee  If I may add, Madam Chair, I can provide some specific data on surveys that have been conducted. There are a few and I'll try to work through them quickly. One is the Canadian alcohol and drug use monitoring survey, what we refer to as CADUMS. This is a general population surve

Health committee  I can begin. To start, I would say that we are aware of the report the member has referenced. I would say generally that the challenges and recommendations that were made at that time continue to be the case today. When the national anti-drug strategy was introduced in 2007, r

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Health to speak to this important issue. My name is Robert Ianiro, and I am the director general of the Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate in the Healthy Environments and Consumer S