Thank you very much for the question. I'm very encouraged that the committee is engaged on this issue, because I think it is a very serious one.
As you've probably seen from some of the statistics, Canada is now, I think, number two in the world in prescription drug abuse. While a lot of the work lies at the provincial level, we're working cooperatively with the provinces and territories on what we can do together to address this problem. We have levers, obviously, at the federal level as well.
The abuse of certain prescription drugs I think represents a very serious health and safety issue in Canada, and one that we committed to addressing, as you know, in the Speech from the Throne. I, myself, and probably many people in this room, have seen and heard the heartbreaking stories of people who have become addicted to prescription drugs, starting with a prescription they needed for back pain, and it has literally ruined their lives. Unfortunately, we haven't had enough focus on this area, given its seriousness. I know it's a growing problem, and we are working very diligently with the provinces and territories to address it.
We do have to cooperate with them, obviously. We've committed in the Speech from the Throne to expanding our national anti-drug strategy to include prescription drug abuse, and not just illicit drug abuse, which I think is important. This action will help build on the work we've already done to tighten such things as licensing rules around drugs such as OxyContin to prevent their being illegally distributed. These include tightened controls on companies that produce drugs like OxyContin to ensure that proper care is taken when they're manufactured, but also when they are distributed.
In terms of our own policy levers within Health Canada, we've also used our public drug plan, which is run by Health Canada. We now have maximum monthly and daily drug limits, we monitor the use of certain drugs to address potential misuse, and we also have real-time warning messages to pharmacists at the point of sale when we see issues.
On top of the good and very helpful and cooperative work that we're doing with partners, I also encourage provinces, territories, and medical professionals to develop their own complementary strategies, and some of them are doing this. We all have a responsibility to fight this issue.
This includes sharing of information that demonstrates that we know—obviously I don't know the extent of the issue—that there is some evidence that some people are doctor shopping and that doctors are prescribing too much. Too much ends up in someone's medicine cabinet and sits there for months. Unfortunately, sometimes kids get their hands on it, take it to school, and sell it. We really need to raise more awareness around this.
But there also have to be measures in place to make sure that doctors are also accountable for some of the misuse. If information is known about this happening, then Health Canada needs to be informed, and if we are informed, then we can take the necessary steps to stop these irresponsible practices.
There are obviously a number of stakeholders involved here. We are working with all of them. We very recently met with a number of them to bring them together in what will be, when we move forward, the first time that all of these stakeholders will be addressing this issue together. I think that's a really good first step, and there will be great information coming out of this committee to build on that work.