I would like to thank the chair and committee members for inviting me to speak to you on prescription drug abuse and its impact on public safety.
My department is responsible for the Enforcement Action Plan, which is a part of Canada's National Anti-Drug Strategy. This responsibility means that we have to work in close cooperation with various partners, among them the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Department of Justice, and Health Canada, so as to ensure that government interventions in the fight against drugs are coordinated, in particular as regards marijuana grow-ops and clandestine laboratories that produce synthetic drugs such as ecstasy.
Within this role, Public Safety has sought to continuously address new and emerging issues impacting public safety with respect to drugs. In recent years, there is increasing evidence to suggest that the illicit use of prescription drugs is a major public safety concern in Canada.
From an enforcement perspective, the criminality associated with prescription drug misuse includes fraudulent use of the health care system, pharmacy robberies, drug-impaired driving, and more traditional drug-trafficking activities, both by criminal organizations and individuals looking to profit from a lucrative street market. Meanwhile, these licit drugs challenge traditional supply reduction approaches.
Public Safety has worked closely with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police drug abuse committee over the years to raise awareness about this issue impacting our communities. As many of you know, the illicit use and/or misuse of pharmaceuticals, in particular, narcotic opioids, has become an issue of increasing concern with the impacts on public safety and the community well-being. In fact, trends indicate rising rates of recreational misuse of prescription drugs by our youth, the majority of whom obtain these drugs from family medicine cabinets or from friends.
This is why, in June 2011, Public Safety hosted a national workshop on the illicit use of pharmaceuticals, in Vancouver, attended by over 100 participants representing federal, provincial, and municipal law enforcement, as well as health officials, including physicians and pharmacists. The goal was to facilitate multi-sectoral discussion and to increase the overall understanding of the issue of pharmaceutical misuse from a public safety perspective.
Following the workshop, Public Safety invested in a pilot project in the Niagara region to hold a prescription drug drop-off day in May 2012. The goal of the event was to safely dispose of unused or unfinished medications in order to limit the possible misuse of these medications. This initiative was very successful. In just one day, 4,000 kilograms of medications were collected, including 835 oxycodone pills, over 3,400 Percocet and Oxycocet pills, over 5,000 codeine pills, and 23 fentanyl patches.
Building on the success of this particular pilot, Public Safety supported the CACP in implementing their resolution to hold a national prescription drug drop-off day and to mobilize law enforcement efforts. Public Safety held a workshop and developed a handbook—I think copies of the handbook were given to members, Mr. Chair—targeting a new law enforcement to support them in their first national annual drop-off day held in May 2013, so earlier this year. This handbook, which has been shared internationally, highlights current prescription drug return initiatives in Canada and is available on both the PS website and the national anti-drug strategy website.
In line with this national day, Public Safety, in collaboration with Health Canada, put forth a resolution at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, on behalf of Canada. This resolution was adopted on March 15, 2013, by the commission. It called on member states to promote initiatives for the safe, secure, and appropriate return for disposal of prescription drugs, in particular, those containing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances under international control.
Public Safety has also worked closely with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, the CCSA, in the development of the national framework on prescription drug misuse. Specifically, in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police drug abuse committee, they led the development of the enforcement pillar for the CCSA's strategy, First Do No Harm: Responding to Canada's Prescription Drug Crisis. We are currently in the process of developing an implementation plan of this pillar.
I thank you for having given me this opportunity to give you an overview of the role my department plays in the National Anti-Drug Strategy, and for the work you have done up till now to manage the issue of prescription drug abuse.
I would be pleased to reply to your questions. Thank you.