I'd like to echo my colleagues. Thanks for your very insightful and interesting testimony this morning.
I now would like to take us back from looking at individual mental health issues, as we've been discussing in these last series of questions, to looking at systems. Obviously in the correctional system we have certain programs in place. Let's bring that back a bit, in particular noting Mr. Sandhu's comment earlier and to remind the NDP members of this committee that they did vote against the $122 million that this Conservative government put toward primarily preventive programs. We heard from the corrections office head that this has resulted in a decline of drug use in prison from 12% to 7.5%, which is substantive, I understand, and an envy internationally. We now have countries across the world coming to see what Canada's doing that has resulted in this great outcome.
I think this government has been outcome-focused, and it has put a substantive amount of funding into preventive programs. We're seeing the fruit of that investment in this. Having said that, though, I want to acknowledge that while people are still in jail and there's still the prevalence of drugs, that's why we're conducting the study and that it is important. We acknowledge that we perhaps need to take a multidisciplinary approach to this, and that's why you from the mental health centre are here today. We hope to also hear from people from the justice system as well.
Drug addiction in jail is obviously not an isolated issue. It's like peeling back the tree bark, in that we now seem to be seeing roots all over the place. Issues spring up in the community. It's obviously a key focus in terms of marketing and the whole system that's in place around drugs in jail. We know the money is coming in and out, so it appears to be a far bigger issue than inmates being addicted in jail.
What other measures can we leverage or develop to further support the goal of establishing a drug-free prison? I want you to think specifically about systems and operations as opposed to individuals at this point. Do you have recommendations for us?